Thanks Holly.

Cherie, no, he didn't go on to be a licensed neuropsychologist. And his assessment does not state anything about any areas of the brain. It's basically a psychological assessment.

I've read a couple hundred psychological assessments of people in my line of work and in my former line of work and I can tell you that there's nothing different about HIS assessment of me than there is in those. Well, it makes reference to cognitive problems probably being associated with depression. That's not good enough.

And a neuropsychologist now should be able to compare my assessment from then with one I have done this year. They can't. There're no points of reference (i.e., comparisons with my score against others' scores).

Dr. Researcher wanted me to go back to the same guy for continuity because he'd done the first assessment--not because he knew him, because he didn't. They are in different states and more than 2-300 miles apart.


Now I gotta go to the rehearsal dinner. TTYL (like on Saturday or Sunday)

I don't blame you for feeling cheated. There IS a difference between a plain psychologist and a neuropsychologist in people who have rare neurological disorders including MS. Each disease has its own special needs and a NEUROpsych who specializes in that area should be part of the team.

A close adult family member has had 3 neuropsych tests. For all practical purposes it did nothing more than create horrendous stress. Nothing improved as a result of the testing. There were errors in all 3 test reports (basic information that was given). The first was by a true neuropsych with an unpleasant personality who never wanted to see him or me again. The second was a psychologist who was very unprofessional in what she said and wouldn't do her work until the referring physician really got on her case. The third, a real neuropsychologist, was by far the most competent but made some snap decisions without finding out the facts and that really irritated me. He later backed off and in effect apologized. Basically, there was nothing he could do to change things except to more recently work at helping to resolve some psychological issues. I KNOW he didn't exactly tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. My loved one's scores (performance IQ) have taken a significant dive every time he's tested but the neuropsychs don't want to admit it - guess they're afraid of how he might react.

I hate being jerked around and strongly suspect that's what's happening to you. You need some support and understanding from all sides so you can make the best out of your situation - and let them know that!