<p>Autism</a> Spectrum Quotient</p>
<p>Tell me your score, please, and whether you have been officially diagnosed and/or believe that you are or aren't autistic. Thanks. I'm trying to assess the validity of this test, which says I have Asperger's Syndrome with my score of 36.</p>
<p>According to Wikipedia, the test is legit.
It's made by Simon Baron-Cohen who is affiliated with the Autism Research Center in Cambridge, UK.
Autism</a> Spectrum Quotient - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
<p>I hope you aren't using this as sole confirmation that you have Asperger's.</p>
<p>btw, no previous suspicion that was on the autistic spectrum....and my score of 14 confirmed that....</p>
<p>I got a 35, which doesn't surprise me since I have always known that I am less skilled than average in social situations. </p>
<p>But I don't trust the test because I think that my score was based primarily on the social questions. Asperger's syndrome is not the only explanation for poor social skills, particularly if they are unaccompanied by the other characteristics of the syndrome.</p>
<p>I think this test is a work in progress.</p>
<p>I gave myself a 24, and guessing gave mathson a 28. That's about what I'd expect. We both are somewhat introverted (though I'm much more social). We both tend to notice number patterns and things like that. He has some Asperger-y qualities, but it's always been pretty clear that while he's somewhat quirky, he's still on the normal side of the divide.</p>
<p>Got a 25. Slightly above average, but definitely not in the Asperger's range.</p>
<p>I kept playing with the test to see how it's scored and noticed that the answer to question 48 has no effect on the final score. You should add 1 to your score if you selected "Slightly disagree" or "Definitely disagree" on this question.</p>
<p>28 for me, which also does not surprise me. Asperger's/autism runs in my family (although DS, now in college, is the oldest "diagnosed" adult). However, I suspect that I would have scored much higher if I had taken this test when I was a young adult, or if I had not already raised a child with Aspergers and in the process learned a lot more about myself and how to better cope with my environment. Many individuals with Aspergers develop numerous coping skills as they mature which in particular, help them improve their social skills and social preferences quite a bit (although at the same time, even neurotypicals sometimes become less adventurous and more "set in their ways" as they get older and their social preferences will also change quite a bit with age). </p>
<p>Personality can make a difference too. Even though DS is more Aspie than me, he is much more extraverted than his introverted mother, and is therefore more willing to take more social risks even though he may be uncomfortable doing so, because the payoff for him is greater than it is for me; he tends to become energized by surrounding himself with people (it's a strange mix, in my mind, but also one that has helped him to adapt to his world much better than he might have otherwise). </p>
<p>I would definitely agree with Marian that a high score on this test alone can mean lots of different things, especially among adults (but there were also some other tests available at the same site that look at other aspects of autism/aspergers - empathy, etc. and you need to look at all of these, not just the one linked in the OP)</p>
<p>22 - but I agree with marian - there are certain aspects of social life that I do not enjoy and do not feel comfortable doing. Those are the situations that are covered in the questions.
For example library vs party - definite library - but library vs dinner with close friends - definite dinner.</p>
<p>I got a 19. I never thought I had Aspergers, but have considered ADD.</p>
<p>I got a 5. I guess the fact that i am terrible with numbers--is what led to a low score.</p>
<p>15 for me.</p>
<ol>
<li>I have considered the possibility that I have Aspergers, have relatives who do, but fundamentally, I don't. I mostly don't care if I offend people, which is different from not knowing how not to offend people.</li>
</ol>
<p>I got a 22 (average for women is 15, higher scores are supposed to be closer to autistic), which seems about right. If they had asked about remembering different sorts of random trivia (instead of things that I particularly don't remember well, like phone numbers), my score could have gone up several points.</p>
<p>My score has gone down since going to college, because I fell in with a social group of geeks like myself (by which I mean, the MIT geek crowd), and became more social, though probably, in many ways, more geeky. It has also gone down with age in general, as I have gradually gained social clue. I retook the test based on what I would have answered when I was eight or nine years old and had almost no friends or social life, and scored a 29.</p>
<p>I would NOT rely on an this quiz to tell you you have Asperger's. Granted, Simon Baron-Cohen is a well-known figure, and this is better than some random Quizilla quiz. But it's not even claiming to be a diagnostic tool (in fact, it specifically says that it's not). It's meant to be used as, at most, an initial screening tool. It doesn't say that if you have a very high score, that means that you have an autism spectrum disorder (having grown up with an autistic twin, I can tell you that there are aspects of it that this thing doesn't test), just that there is a correlation. It is not saying that "[you] have Asperger's Syndrome", just that your score is very high, and that most people with Asperger's also have very high scores.</p>
<p>What this thing is catching are undersocialized geeks. People with ASD generally fall into this category, but so do a lot of regular old geeks who have no social clue because they're ostracized by the other children and thus don't get the same opportunity to learn social skills in childhood. Unfortunately, with the diagnostic criteria for ASD becoming so wide, and it being such a fad diagnosis these days, these geeks are being pathologized, and people whose ASD really causes them problems are having their problems trivialized.</p>
<p>dmd77: empathy is another big part of AS; it's not just about one's ability to understand social cues or how to behave in social settings (especially when talking about adults with AS; those things are pretty easy to learn; empathy is a lot tougher to master).</p>
<p>Interesting test, even if just evaluate how you feel you interact with others. I got a 6, and I expected a low score. For instance, my attention to detail is horrendous. I even missed the first check off for male or female, so the test kicked back after I asked for a score for that answer. However, some of the questions might be better answered by someone close to you. For instance numbers 18 and 38 (can other's get a word in edgewise and are you good at chit chat?). If you're really socially unaware, you may not recognize that you manage to overwhelm others in conversation.</p>
<p>I got a 19, which is surprising; thought I'd be closer to the spectrum. I took it again, answering the way I thought my son would answer. 31, and he's been disgnosed. I know he's mild, so it's probably about right.</p>
<p>13 for me. I do just fine with social situations, but I'd much prefer a good book and my imagination any day of the week. </p>
<p>zebes</p>
<p>23 yep, I am a undersocialized geek. But then I always knew that.</p>
<p>15 for me. I could have written Zebes' post #17.</p>
<p>I got a 32. I felt several of the questions were repetitive and I would agree not to rely on a test such as this but if you have a concern you should mention that to your dr.</p>