Could somebody validate me?

WOW, two LONG blogs from me in less than 24 hrs. I'm on a roll.

I'm hoping someone can validate my feelings towards ridiculously written questionnaires, instructions etc. Here are bits an pieces of the full page of instructions for one of the several questionnaire booklets I need to complete for Sam's ASD evaluation. My commentary is in square brackets []. This booklet is 29 pages and averages 20 questions per page. If you find yourself actually reading through this and drifting off - I can't blame you.

HEADING OF INSTRUCTIONS:
"Before beginning administration, read Chapter 2 in the Survey Forms Manual carefully."
[OK first of all this sounds like instructions to the person administering the Questionnaire = Q for short from here on out, not the person filling it out. Also Chapter 2 of the Survey Forms Manual was not provided.]

"General Directions: In each adaptive behavior subdomain, begin scoring with the time designated for the individual's age."
[OK so I know about domains and subdomains from a computer stand point but what the heck is an "adaptive behavior subdomain" its not described anywhere nor is it apparent when looking at the Q. How about somehow referencing what the domain is so I know what the subdomain is? Once again it sounds like this is for the person who gets the survey after its filled out - or am I also supposed to do the scoring?]

Then there is a list of very straight forward bulleted instructions for when to circle 2,1,0,DK=don't know, etc. This is all good because it sounds like my instructions finally.
[keep this order of 2,1,0,DK] in mind.

The last bullet item in the list:
"Some subdomains do not apply to children younger than three years of age. If the child being assessed is younger than the age of the first start point, do not administer that subdomain."
[OK again don't administer - is this instruction to me the person filling it out or the person providing it - the administrator? There is no indication as to who this information is for. I can only assume I'm supposed to understand this. Also "start points" are not specified anywhere in the Q]

Final paragraph of instructions:
"Basal and Ceiling Rules: For each subdomain, establish a basal of four consecutive items scored "2" and a ceiling of four consecutive items scored "0." The basal item is defined as the highest item in the highest set of four consecutive items scored "2." The ceiling item is defined as the lowest item in the lowest set of four consecutive items scored "0." If no basal is established, treat Item 1 as the basal item. If no ceiling is established, treat the last item in the subdomain as the ceiling item."
[could someone put that in English? Is this going to be on a test. . . Is this for me or the person I'm giving it back to once I figure out how to answer everything properly?]

OH and now I'm in BIG trouble because the front page has a copyright on it saying NO part of this booklet may be photocopied or otherwise reproduced. Uh oh, I let the cat out of the bag - this Q's instructions really stink!

OK but my very favorite peeve of this Q starts on pg 23. The Q has a heading at the top of each page stating "Response Options: 2 = Usually 1 = Sometimes or Partially 0 = Never DK = Don't Know" The numbers that follow each question come in that same order 2,1,0,DK. Now lets jump to page 23. Again the page heading reads "Response Options: 2=Usually 1=Sometimes 0 = Never" BUT then the numbers that follow each question switch order and go "0 1 2" So now after 22 pages of being programmed to know that the first number is 2 it changes to 0. It maintains this same backward order for the rest of the Q. Is this a trick to make sure we are still awake and paying attention? If so I'm thinking they aren't terribly concerned with accurate data. I was a full page into the questions on this page before recognizing the switch and of course marked several incorrect #'s. Call me unobservant but really 22 pages of the same thing, it was working, why change?

I wrote this up as a note on Facebook early this morning. I was WIDE awake. I asked myself why am I up at 1:22am writing about my annoyance from yesterday? I think it made me feel better. Maybe someone will agree with me and validate my opinion that these instructions stink.

The really encouraging news is that this was the first of 4 similar looking questionnaires. I wonder if there will be more blog posts about those. I don't even dare open them yet.