Am I risking any trouble if I were to open source this test? Based on this writeup?
Reverse engineering my ADHD test
101–110 of 247 posts
Re: Reverse engineering my ADHD test
#102I spent a decent amount working on ADHD diagnostics and unfortunately it sucks. To my knowledge, to this day, there isn’t a single reliable biomarker that identifies autism spectrum disorders. It’s usually correlation studies paired with questionnaires which for lack of better words can be described as “incidental” at best. Most z scored tests I know are also developed with small samples, a hundred participants with…
32 y/o male. I took an in-person assessment earlier this year. It was an 8 hour battery of tests split across two days. In no particular order:
- Clinical Interview
- Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV)
- Wechsler Memory Scale – Fourth Edition (WMS-IV)
- Conners Continuous Performance Test – Third Edition (CPT-3)
- Delis-Kaplan Executive Functioning System, selected subtests
- Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)
Are you familiar with any of those? I did some research after receiving my report and apparently the combination of tests listed above are well-respected, about as good as it gets. I’m curious what your take is.
The subjective part of the assessment was actually the clinician making sense of the data. My cognitive assessment (IQ and its subtypes) scored fairly high, I averaged something like 115 (84th percentile). But my memory assessment scores (audio/visual memory/working memory, immediate/delayed memory) tanked tremendously, I averaged around 90 (30th percentile).
My positive diagnosis was based on the variability of scores and the clear cognition-memory gap. The results made sense, aligned with my experience in life (I fell asleep in almost every lecture in college, sustaining attention while taking notes was a heavy audio-visual working memory exercise for me).
I personally haven’t adopted any of this as my identity but it opened a door to do some metacognition and reflect on how I interface with the world. Also the stimulant medication didn’t magically fix everything, sometimes the hyper focus is worse, but there was one HUGE benefit that I didn’t realize I was missing - emotional regulation. I’m a heavy ruminator and pretty much suffered in silence most of my life, my inner dialog is much more organized and calm, and I can comb through my thoughts easier now.
P.S. I cannot recommend enough - check out “HealthyGamerGG” on YouTube. He does some deep dives on ADHD and other diagnoses. Classically trained psychiatrist with something like 5 years of training as a Buddhist monk. Very insightful guy who’s both data-driven and spiritual, helping a lot of people.
Re: Reverse engineering my ADHD test
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
Brother the test is quick, easy, and painless, and the results can be lifechanging. The other thing is, ADHD in my mind is really a syndrome that starts with a symptom - inattention - that can be caused by so, so many things. I have both, because of course I do, I had a medical problem that exacerbated my ADHD to a significant, significant degree (it's amazing I was able to be a software engineer for so long without…
I want to add that the comment is also funny to me because it and the blog post are very relatable to me. I don't mean to dismiss it at all. It's really important to get a good diagnosis for anything like this and not dismiss it or lock into the wrong diagnosis because of your own tunnel vision. You wrote "the test is quick, easy, and painless" but I also want to note that it's not always. Depending on your country,…
Why is it so life changing to get help? What kind of help is there besides meds?
Re: Reverse engineering my ADHD test
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
" diagnosis during childhood so if you're 30 or 40 you might have no chance " Huh? You don't have to be tested as-a-child, you don't have to call up your fourth grade teacher. You can self report your subjective experience. "Did you have these problems as a child? Have you always had trouble doing your homework? Did stressing out about homework enable you to do the homework?" They ask the question a few different way…
In some countries it's almost impossible (I don't have any direct experience but I've heard tale that in e.g. aus/nz, east asia, south asia, etc people give up before getting diagnosed often), and my understanding is that in Europe it's virtually unheard of to have an adult diagnosis. In the US, at least, it ranges from difficult to straightforward, but that's not true everywhere
In NZ it's easy, and some GPs can do it as of earlier this year.
Re: Reverse engineering my ADHD test
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
ADHD also evolutionary advantages, so there is unlikely to be a single gene that encodes for it.
What are they? Are there papers on this?
I don't know about papers but I had a doctor tell me they are overrepresented among snipers in the military. ADD could be an advantage to hunting.
Re: Reverse engineering my ADHD test
#106I spent a decent amount working on ADHD diagnostics and unfortunately it sucks. To my knowledge, to this day, there isn’t a single reliable biomarker that identifies autism spectrum disorders. It’s usually correlation studies paired with questionnaires which for lack of better words can be described as “incidental” at best. Most z scored tests I know are also developed with small samples, a hundred participants with…
From a molecular neuroscience perspective, for both ADHD and ASD (autism) you're unlikely to find any pure biomarkers as clean as a disease like huntingtons disease whose mechanism is clearly understood as extra CAG repeats on the HTT gene (a clean mendelian disorder). ADHD is defined by behavior/cognitive symptoms and most all behavior/cognitive diseases are multifactoral, which ADHD is. WES/WGS and GWAS has been do…
There’s a doctor who goes by Russell Barkley, PhD on his popular YouTube channel and claims to be able to brainscan for ADHD with certainty. Is his claim legitimate?
Re: Reverse engineering my ADHD test
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
What are they? Are there papers on this?
There are only papers which suggest this could be true, none that conclusively prove it. That I’m aware of. There are some cool studies done where people with a without ADHD are tasked to forage berries. The people with ADHD do better and adhere to foraging patterns which existing theories suggest would be more optimal. A lot of the studies like that indicate the individual with the condition might benefit more from…
I’ve always thought, it’s not absurd to think there different development routes which the brain takes depending on the environment it develops in.
With your foraging example, it does make me think ADHD is a small group/individual optimisation. Prioritising high vigilance and individual productivity over social cohesion.
I speak with no authority. I don’t even know how such a theory could be tested.
Re: Reverse engineering my ADHD test
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
I want to add that the comment is also funny to me because it and the blog post are very relatable to me. I don't mean to dismiss it at all. It's really important to get a good diagnosis for anything like this and not dismiss it or lock into the wrong diagnosis because of your own tunnel vision. You wrote "the test is quick, easy, and painless" but I also want to note that it's not always. Depending on your country,…
Why is it so life changing to get help? What kind of help is there besides meds?
If you pair meds with therapy and adjusting your life according to the things you learn about yourself through the lens of the diagnosis your quality of life can increase dramatically (at least it did for me).
Re: Reverse engineering my ADHD test
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
I want to add that the comment is also funny to me because it and the blog post are very relatable to me. I don't mean to dismiss it at all. It's really important to get a good diagnosis for anything like this and not dismiss it or lock into the wrong diagnosis because of your own tunnel vision. You wrote "the test is quick, easy, and painless" but I also want to note that it's not always. Depending on your country,…
Why is it so life changing to get help? What kind of help is there besides meds?
Therapy, which (at least for me) has focused dually on adhd management strategies that can be very helpful (including, in particular, enhancing relevant social skills related to setting expectations and boundaries) and on identifying and modifying negative self-image issues and counterproductive learned behaviors (e.g. various forms of self-directed hostility that attempt to assert control over a neurophysiological issue).
It’s funny, I went to therapy a lot of times before I found someone I could stick with, and if I were to give my past self a list of what I’ve gotten from therapy, I think I would’ve been unimpressed. Nevertheless, I’ve noticed that I’m more confident and calmer, and it has definitely improved my relationships.
There’s a kind of virtuous cycle that happens where you replace a grumpy mindset where you’re always mad at yourself for not meeting other peoples’ expectations and always mad at other people for making your life hard, with a confident mindset where you understand yourself, are therefore comfortable relating to other people about your abilities and needs, and can focus on putting yourself in situations where you’ll be successful.
Re: Reverse engineering my ADHD test
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
" diagnosis during childhood so if you're 30 or 40 you might have no chance " Huh? You don't have to be tested as-a-child, you don't have to call up your fourth grade teacher. You can self report your subjective experience. "Did you have these problems as a child? Have you always had trouble doing your homework? Did stressing out about homework enable you to do the homework?" They ask the question a few different way…
In some countries it's almost impossible (I don't have any direct experience but I've heard tale that in e.g. aus/nz, east asia, south asia, etc people give up before getting diagnosed often), and my understanding is that in Europe it's virtually unheard of to have an adult diagnosis. In the US, at least, it ranges from difficult to straightforward, but that's not true everywhere
Europe here. I have several friends that got diagnosed with ADHD as adults.
If you try to do it through the public system it's very difficult to even get an appointment because there's months long waiting lists. Basically if you have a job and function somewhat OK in normal life you won't be diagnosed in the public system. If you do get through it can be a long process where they want to interview your parents etc to determine if you had symptoms as a child. But you can also get a diagnosis through private practitioners and some of them function almost like diagnosis mills. A couple of video interviews and tests and you are done.