Psychological Tests

[teakae]

I have read the articles on this web site regarding parenting evaluations and the psychological tests used. Does anybody have experience taking with their kids taking BPS and PORT or DI (Dicipline Index)? How did your kids feel about taking these tests? What about PPCP (Parent perception of child profile) and ASPECT? I know you can't "study" for them but I would like to know what happened and how you think it helped or hurt your case.
Thanks.

[DecentDad]

Hi,

I did ASPECT and another test that may have been PPCP-- it was a written test asking me whether certain conditions met my child alot, a little or not at all.  There was also a small short-answer section about any concerns.

I did fine.  I didn't "study", and I just answered as a devoted parent (i.e., I tried not to think strategically for a custody outcome).  Clinical psychologist (our evaluator) in his report noted that I demonstrated thoughtful answers and excellent knowledge of parenting skills, though I may need to set greater limits.

That last part was a laugh b/c my home is the structured one while biomom's is not.  However, biomom alleged for years that my "controlling rigidity" was harming our daughter, so the evaluator may have put in that line about needing to set more limits to balance the allegation.

In terms of preparation, I've read many parenting and child development books over the years and took a parenting course a while back (i.e., a proactive move to discredit allegations made against me).  And of course, I've been involved with my daughter for years.

I think anyone who's been an active parent, who's read a book or two at some point, should be fine.

There were no trick questions or tough word problems (e.g., nothing like, "If your child is running away at 8 mph, and you're chasing at 10 mph, with how much force must you reduce your slap upside his head to prevent him from falling forwards?).

Good luck.  Don't worry about it.  The tests were the easy part.  The interviews are the wholly subjective issues to fret over.

DD

[teakae]

>
>There were no trick questions or tough word problems (e.g.,
>nothing like, "If your child is running away at 8 mph, and
>you're chasing at 10 mph, with how much force must you reduce
>your slap upside his head to prevent him from falling
>forwards?).
>

OH MY GOD!! HOW HILARIOUS!!

Answer: Depends on whether DCF has their radar on you....

So how "in sync" did you feel the evaluator was with you and your parenting skills? Do you feel you have good verbal skills? I ask because my SO is not verbal at all! He tends to give one word answers and get that "deer in headlights" look.

Did your or your ex have any special circumstances that worked or not worked in favor?

[DecentDad]

I couldn't 'read' the evaluator at all.  He reacted to nothing, just asked questions, probed into my comments, asked me to respond to things that biomom said.

I have very good verbal skills.  But that has nothing to do with parenting, unless it's so bad that there's a barrier between a parent and the kids as a result.

It's the evaluator's job to examine the parenting skills... and that includes conducting interviews in such a way that each parent will be able to provide the information needed.

One word answers don't work if the evaluator asks, "Tell me about your child."

I wasn't too satisfied with my evaluator's report.  He believed a few false allegations about me (with no evidence), but on the other hand he also dismissed about 95% of all the false allegations my ex made.

He did note the important things about my relationship with my daughter-- that we're well-bonded, that my daughter's affection and comfort with me is genuine, and that the only time I seemed to really enjoy and "light up" with the evaluator is when we were discussing my daughter.  

He described my approach in describing my ex as "strategic and calculating" (which it was, of course).  He didn't dismiss any of the facts that I told him, but his conclusion of their severity wasn't the same conclusion I made.

The "special circumstances" of my eval process were:  1) biomom wanted a move-away, 2) I'm married to someone new.

The eval report concluded that biomom showed abnormal paranoia, her psych testing showed some abnormalities, she has a tough time managing conflict in her life, she has limited ability to look inward and rather blames others for her difficulties.  My wife and I all came out in normal range on everything.

That was all RIGHT ON.  But guess what?... according to evaluator, she's still a good mother and poses no significant threat to our daughter.

I was going for sole custody, and I didn't get it.  She wanted sole custody and a move-away.  She didn't get it either.  We ended up with joint custody and no move-away.

So much of it depends upon the evalutor and your judge.  All your SO can do is perhaps do some role-playing with you to be able to talk extensively about his child, and just pray it all works out.

DD