Jilly Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 My son went in for testing today and about ten minutes into his session he walked out to the waiting room with tears in his eyes. He was taking the TOVA, and apparently it was so boring to him that he started crying and felt like he had to leave. At that moment the doctor was in another room and didn't see him walk out. I was able to calm him down and get him back in the office at which point the doctor noticed he was gone. She talked to him for a while, and they decided together to skip that test and move on. He was fine with all the other tests, and he ended up working with her for an hour and a half. After the testing I talked with her, and she stressed that she would like him to come back and try the TOVA test one more time. I agreed we could try, and he has a follow-up appointment on Thursday morning. He is stressing about the test now. He said he would try, but it hurt his eyes and made him so bored. He only made it through a minute of the first test, and I am worried the second try won't go much better. I am wondering how essential this test is? Do you think it will make a huge difference either way? Also I am thinking that his inability to even take the test would tell the doctor a good deal about him. Would you agree with that? A little more background - This is follow up testing to testing he did a year ago. He is gifted, has a very low processing speed (7%), and has a great deal of anxiety. I am mostly thinking out loud and wondering how necessary the TOVA test is to getting a complete picture of my son. Thanks for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 You know what's weird about that is it MAY ACTUALLY make his eyes hurt! They basically stare at a computer screen for like 20 minutes, tapping every time they see the blip. My dd did it as part of her evals, and later it turned out she needed glasses. We did VT prior to the psych evals, but even so her eyes tend to go weak because of her overall low muscle tone. She now wears bifocal contacts (yes, my 15 yo wears bifocals!) to prevent eye strain with close-up work. Without them, when she does close-up work like the computer she gets HORRIBLE inattention symptoms pretty quickly. With the added support for up-close vision she can do the up-close work for HOURS without a problem. It's like night and day in our house. It would be really interesting to get his eyes checked by a developmental optometrist and see if there's anything going on physically to explain this. Have you had that done? It's really the psych's problem to work out. It's supposed to make them bored out of their skulls. Bored is ok, pain is not. My boy is very self-determinant like that and a problem-solver. I could totally see my boy getting up and walking out like that. My dd didn't, but she has more drive to comply. No matter what happens, the psych will learn more about him from his reaction. Just let it play out. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geodob Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 TOVA has 2 parts, where the first part that takes 10 minutes. Involves a particularly boring activity, and shows whether one can keep their attention focused on a boring task for 10 minutes? Where it was notable that the doctor wasn't in the room with him? As it would make a great difference if the doctor stayed in the room. TOVA has been shown to have many variables, that make it unreliable. While TOVA can be used as an indicator of attention difficulties, it is not recommended for use as a diagnosis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Ariel Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 I do know that when my dc took the TOVA that there was someone in the room with them during testing. I wouldn't think it was reliable if your child was in there alone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 You know what's weird about that is it MAY ACTUALLY make his eyes hurt! They basically stare at a computer screen for like 20 minutes, tapping every time they see the blip. My dd did it as part of her evals, and later it turned out she needed glasses. We did VT prior to the psych evals, but even so her eyes tend to go weak because of her overall low muscle tone. She now wears bifocal contacts (yes, my 15 yo wears bifocals!) to prevent eye strain with close-up work. Without them, when she does close-up work like the computer she gets HORRIBLE inattention symptoms pretty quickly. With the added support for up-close vision she can do the up-close work for HOURS without a problem. It's like night and day in our house. It would be really interesting to get his eyes checked by a developmental optometrist and see if there's anything going on physically to explain this. Have you had that done? It's really the psych's problem to work out. It's supposed to make them bored out of their skulls. Bored is ok, pain is not. My boy is very self-determinant like that and a problem-solver. I could totally see my boy getting up and walking out like that. My dd didn't, but she has more drive to comply. No matter what happens, the psych will learn more about him from his reaction. Just let it play out. :grouphug: Thanks for the advice. He has not had his eyes checked yet, but I will look into that. He often complains about his eyes hurting (straining?), and we had them checked with a regular eye doctor who said they were fine. Maybe it is time to investigate this issue further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 Where it was notable that the doctor wasn't in the room with him? As it would make a great difference if the doctor stayed in the room. I do know that when my dc took the TOVA that there was someone in the room with them during testing. I wouldn't think it was reliable if your child was in there alone! I also thought it was strange that he was left alone especially with his anxiety issues. Hopefully at the re-test the doctor will stay with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathermomster Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Good luck with the retest. I became upset reading about your child's response. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Thanks for the advice. He has not had his eyes checked yet, but I will look into that. He often complains about his eyes hurting (straining?), and we had them checked with a regular eye doctor who said they were fine. Maybe it is time to investigate this issue further. Well I had read about developmental optometrists here on the board in passing, but it was always in that flood of stuff you read that you don't know if it applies to you or not. Sounds like now it does. :) www.covd.org is where you find them. Yup, get him checked. Regular optometrist won't catch it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 He took the TOVA test again this morning. He was very anxious before the test and was crying, but by the time we got there he felt better. Someone sat with him while he took it and apparently everything went great. We won't have the results from his testing for two weeks, but he is so happy it is all over for now. On a side note he complained about his eyes hurting again after the test. My next step is to look into a developmental optometrist. Thanks again for the advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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