AQ-10, a quick test to check if you should get checked out

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This is a cut down version of the AQ. They analyzed the AQ results from a fairly large sample of tests and selected ten questions that were most effective at detecting autistic traits. The AQ-10 is designed to be a quick screening test for use where time is limited, for example a normal GP appointment.

If you take the AQ test on the Aspie tests website you will get both both the full AQ score and AQ-10 score.

I scored a 9 on this test. On the test linked in the above post, I got:

Total score : 174.0
Language: 14.0
Social Relatedness: 84.0
Sensory/motor: 43.0
Circumscribed Interests: 35.0

A toaster in the shape of a cat that is. I'd not want to shape a cat into the form of a toaster, I'd feel bad for the cat.

The last time I did the AQ (answering it as I am in the present day and trying not to account for how I was early in life) I got a 31/50 but scored a 6/10 out of those questions. It puts me right about where I am starting to believe I belong, right on the borderline between ASD and BAP or ADHD.

Lol, my wife just took the test on my behalf, she gave me 9/10. I took number 8 too literally based on the examples(yet another AS trait right there). I agree with her, now that she explained it to me.

*please excuse me for a minute*

Is is just me or is it hard to understand some of the questions on these damn tests???


Question: I find it easy to 'read between the lines when someone is talking to me
My brain: I understand what 'read between the lines' means but what am I looking for??? How the hell am I supposed to know when someone is meaning something else??? Argh!! !

I think I could go off on a tangent on just about all of the questions but I will not. BUT am I the only one who thinks if I new how to successfully do the things that are on some of these tests, I seriously doubt I would be taking them???

I've actually been berated by someone on a forum for not "reading between the lines".

How are we supposed to know when someone is doing "it"? Is there some secret that we are not aware of??? Just tell tell me what you want/need and I will be willing to give it to said person.

4-5 (there are two question that I am not much sure). In the extended AQ test, I usually have 24, meaning that I am in the same range in the two.

That was my one-question psychopathy test.



I've had arguments on forums where I'm getting berated for not "reading between the lines" while I'm getting frustrated at them for reading things into my posts that I never wrote, and end up stating variations of "I wrote exactly what I meant, not that thing you just made up."

There are a couple of posters here whom I've noticed have a tendency to rephrase others' arguments in really strange ways. It makes talking to them extremely frustrating because I can't participate in the conversation that they're having with themselves over what they decided I really meant instead of actually responding to what I literally wrote.

I do that. Here are some examples from my own life:

I tried to get a list of every single possible name, and gave up when I realized people can make up new names (my Dad gave the example of a famous person who named his/her kids Moon Unit and Dweisel).

I've been trying to learn about every single MCA/MR syndrome (multiple congenital anomalies and mental retardation). This one I didn't give up when I realized new syndromes are being discovered all the time, in fact I still go back to this on occasion.

I collect psychometric tests - recently I found a book that I didn't want to buy that had self-assessment tests in it, and I got my Dad to take pictures of the tests with his Blackberry.

I'm trying to get information about every recorded chromosome abnormality, and do stats on any that I can find at least 30 described cases. (30 is the minimum in a group for doing meaningful stats with them.)

And on the AQ-10:

1. I often notice small sounds when others do not - definitely agree (I could hear my brother playing the iPod on one bar of sound in his room while I was trying to sleep in the other room, and it would keep me awake)

2. I usually concentrate more on the whole picture, rather than the small details - slightly disagree (I notice both the big picture and the details, but I really like the details)

3. I find it easy to do more than one thing at once - slightly agree (I can pay attention to a lecture and write my story simultaneously, if it's not too hard a subject, but I can't follow two conversations at once)

4. If there is an interruption, I can switch back to what I was doing very quickly - slightly disagree (ack, what is 'very quickly'? This is pretty much a guess on my part)

5. I find it easy to ‘read between the lines’ when someone is talking to me - strongly disagree (I even miss pre-arranged nonverbal signals, like when my Dad was going to cue me to ask certain questions while we were considering buying a house)

6. I know how to tell if someone listening to me is getting bored - slightly disagree (I'm starting to be able to tell, but I still miss it a lot)

7. When I’m reading a story I find it difficult to work out the characters’ intentions - strongly disagree (they directly give you the information I miss in real-life, plus you can reread it as much as you like, and I'm genre savvy)

8. I like to collect information about categories of things (e.g. types of car, types of bird, types of train, types of plant etc) - strongly agree (as indicated above)

9. I find it easy to work out what someone is thinking or feeling just by looking at their face - slightly disagree (I'm better at it than many aspies, but worse than most NTs)

10. I find it difficult to work out people’s intentions - strongly agree (the only exception are people on the spectrum)

8 out of 10 - I should be referred for AS (except I'm already diagnosed)

9 of 10

I'm on track to be diagnosed. I'm waffling about printing and bringing these self tests.
Some of the psych professionals seem to get defensive about patients thinking for themselves, so I'll probably just leave them out.

My wife explained this one too me, and mentioned a few examples from my life:
-I made an access database of movies I had watched
-My browser favourites/bookmarks are filled up with items I wanted to get in WoW, complete glamour-sets and fine lookin' weapons
-I collected tips on how to make gold in WoW on a blog I had, and ended up with being very close to 1 000 000g when I stopped playing in january
-When I studied I made a webpage with dates for when I should deliver papers, complete with countdowns and links to the assignment and my completed work.
-I collected thousands of text message jokes on a webpage
-I got so many visitors on that webpage that doing a statistics part was very fun, and I collected data about who visited

...well, these are some things I totally ignored because of the way the question were phrased, but she said they counted.

The point of this question is - do you accurately work out what the character's intentions are likely to be before the book actually tells you?

Wait, those count? All this time, I've been answering the question wrong.



Huh. I've never paid attention to it before. I'm very good at working out what's likely to happen based on what I've seen happen in similar stories. (Example: one of the main characters is kidnapped and no news is given for several episodes. He's clearly going to be evil or something equally as shocking when he shows up again. Otherwise they'd have shown us what was happening on his end). I'm not sure about individual characters' intentions, though.

I took the longer version, but I would have gotten a higher score on this one! Yeah..
Oh wait.. Yeah.
Ok seriously, I have taken the longer one & gotten a very high AQ score on it. That one question must have come from someone who has been snooping around my bookcases. I love to categorize things, esp. animals.

Sincerely,
Matthew