Autism-Spectrum Quotient
Oct. 28th, 2010 05:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
senoritafish(First posted March 29, 2006. I've been seeing this test show up on Facebook a lot lately, and I knew it was familiar. I just realized that for some reason this was posted privately, which was not what I intended. I must've wanted to edit it more.)
I think I’ve taken this before…and given my father and son, it’s probably not too surprising what my score is; I've also taken it more than once and it varies.
Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at Cambridge's Autism Research Centre have created the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, as a measure of the extent of autistic traits in adults. In the first major trial using the test, the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher. The test is not a means for making a diagnosis, however, and many who score above 32 and even meet the diagnostic criteria for mild autism or Asperger's report no difficulty functioning in their everyday lives.
Agree: 2,4,5,12,13,16,22,23,26,39,41,45,46: 1 point
Disagree: 1,11,14,15,17,24,27,28,30,32,36,37,38,44,47,48,50: 1 point
Score: 30
However, about the bit about “reporting no difficulty functioning in their everyday lives,” - I’m not sure that some undiagnosed people realize how much support they are getting from those around them.
I have in mind a guy with a PhD I was on a research cruise with. Very capable in his own field, a world expert in acoustic technology - sonar equipment and the like. Personable enough, if you could get around his stilted formal speech and stood upwind of him - he didn't shower for the entire three week cruise. Despite that, he was a little obsessed with how germ-ridden the dishtowels were and insisted we all use paper towels all the time, and when asked if he wanted to borrow a pair of boots for working on the wet deck, declined because he didn't know his shoe size. "I am provided for," he declared. He also laid out all of his clothes and all his belongings just so every evening before climbing into his bunk - I had the bunk right above him (I have a rather poor sense of smell, so I really didn't notice much - I was told later he was kind of tough to stand near). Apparently his wife back home did all of his clothes shopping, and must have reminded him a lot about his hygiene.
And yet at the same time, he was personable, if you could get around the stilted formality of his speech, and I actually got along with him much better than the other scientist who would have been considered more normal. Granted, I have no qualifications, but the behavior seemed to fit. I've also read that there's a high percentage of people with Asperger's in academia and the military; those careers tend to reward those who can hold a very narrow focus for long periods of time, and may tend to rigid habits (that's really oversimplifying it, I'm sure).
Because they don't see themselves as having difficulty doesn't mean someone (friend, family member, co-worker) isn't making things work smoother for them, even in small ways, or even just putting up with quirks that might drive others crazy - those people who would make life difficult for them. My father's habits and mannerisms drive me absolutely batshit, and I'm only just now coming to terms with the fact that that's how he learned to cope. And we make allowances. I know my husband covers lapses on my part that don't even occur to me, and visa versa. I don't think my father or the guy above would say they have problems with day to day stuff.
Really, isn't that what family and friends are about anyway? Helping each other out, even though the other may not even be aware of it? To some extent, we all do it, for anyone we care for.
I think I’ve taken this before…and given my father and son, it’s probably not too surprising what my score is; I've also taken it more than once and it varies.
Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at Cambridge's Autism Research Centre have created the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, as a measure of the extent of autistic traits in adults. In the first major trial using the test, the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher. The test is not a means for making a diagnosis, however, and many who score above 32 and even meet the diagnostic criteria for mild autism or Asperger's report no difficulty functioning in their everyday lives.
Agree: 2,4,5,12,13,16,22,23,26,39,41,45,46: 1 point
Disagree: 1,11,14,15,17,24,27,28,30,32,36,37,38,44,47,48,50: 1 point
Score: 30
However, about the bit about “reporting no difficulty functioning in their everyday lives,” - I’m not sure that some undiagnosed people realize how much support they are getting from those around them.
I have in mind a guy with a PhD I was on a research cruise with. Very capable in his own field, a world expert in acoustic technology - sonar equipment and the like. Personable enough, if you could get around his stilted formal speech and stood upwind of him - he didn't shower for the entire three week cruise. Despite that, he was a little obsessed with how germ-ridden the dishtowels were and insisted we all use paper towels all the time, and when asked if he wanted to borrow a pair of boots for working on the wet deck, declined because he didn't know his shoe size. "I am provided for," he declared. He also laid out all of his clothes and all his belongings just so every evening before climbing into his bunk - I had the bunk right above him (I have a rather poor sense of smell, so I really didn't notice much - I was told later he was kind of tough to stand near). Apparently his wife back home did all of his clothes shopping, and must have reminded him a lot about his hygiene.
And yet at the same time, he was personable, if you could get around the stilted formality of his speech, and I actually got along with him much better than the other scientist who would have been considered more normal. Granted, I have no qualifications, but the behavior seemed to fit. I've also read that there's a high percentage of people with Asperger's in academia and the military; those careers tend to reward those who can hold a very narrow focus for long periods of time, and may tend to rigid habits (that's really oversimplifying it, I'm sure).
Because they don't see themselves as having difficulty doesn't mean someone (friend, family member, co-worker) isn't making things work smoother for them, even in small ways, or even just putting up with quirks that might drive others crazy - those people who would make life difficult for them. My father's habits and mannerisms drive me absolutely batshit, and I'm only just now coming to terms with the fact that that's how he learned to cope. And we make allowances. I know my husband covers lapses on my part that don't even occur to me, and visa versa. I don't think my father or the guy above would say they have problems with day to day stuff.
Really, isn't that what family and friends are about anyway? Helping each other out, even though the other may not even be aware of it? To some extent, we all do it, for anyone we care for.
