Has anyone had this done? If so what can I expect. My 6 year old is having one done on Friday, I think it will last at least 2 hours and may require a follow up visit, but I am not entirely sure. They are doing this to diagnois ADHD, but also to rule out any other mental health issues.

By Gammiejoan on Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - 07:04 pm:

My grandson underwent an evaluation a couple years ago when he was four. I can't remember the exact terminology used, but it wasn't referred to as a psychiatric evaluation. I'm thinking it was more along the lines of a developmental evaluation. In any event, he was evaluated by a team of professionals. There was a psychiatrist, a psychologist, an occupational therapist, and a speech therapist. There may have been other professionals there also, but those are the only ones I recall right now. The evaluation took the majority of the morning, and then his parents went back in the afternoon to be interviewed and to be given the professionals' opinions regarding the morning's testing and evaluations. His parents had completed a lot of paperwork prior to the evaluation, and the professionals had reviewed all that prior to seeing him. I don't know if your ds's evaluation will be handled similarly, but this is what I recall in regard to my grandson's evaluation.

By Marcia on Thursday, April 8, 2004 - 01:00 am:

When my dd went to be tested for ADD and LDs, it was done over the course of several one hour appointments. I think it was much better, because the psychologist got a true picture of who she is.
I've been with lots of kids as they had full morning testing done, and I've never found them to be very accurate. My youngest was tested that way, and the results were much lower than where she actually was. It did get us some funding, which was great, but that was the only good thing about it.

By Tink on Thursday, April 8, 2004 - 01:05 am:

When my DS was being evaluated for Autism, he was tested by each professional one at a time in our home and then seen twice in an office environment together. After the office visits, the pros would talk about weak areas and make sure everyone was in agreement. My husband and I got to participate in it all. I've since realized that we had one of the most enviable experiences during the evaluation process. I hope yours goes well.