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.