What’s your strongest and weakest autistic trait?

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I'm sure it'll seem like a silly question, but as a newly diagnosed person with co-morbidities that often share characteristics, can anyone tell me where I might find a list of autistic traits to choose from? I realize that I could simply take a look at the DSM-V's criteria but I've seen qualities listed in this thread that are not part of the diagnostic criteria.

Hi Angel,

I wrote my list based on the tests which were administered in my ASD assessment. I have a copy of the report and I didn't go read it, but those are things I could remember off the top of my head. Example - Alexithymia, NonVerbal IQ.

Each score was quantified by a percentile ranking so that's how I knew which ones were strong or weak.

Are there specific traits or ideas from the thread that you want to know more about?

Hi Isabella! I feel like I can't answer the OP's question because if I was asked to list what autistic traits are, I'd come to this thread, and list all the responses that are listed in this thread. But, I don't know if the autistic traits I've found in this thread are comprehensive - or if they only represent like 10% of all autistic traits, you know?

Your best bet is just to look at the DSM5 or ICD10.

Here's a non-medical list of common behaviours for your reference, but it's "non-official" or "non-diagnostic".

It also says it's just for women (which is rubbish -- it can be anyone), and it says it's for Aspergers (again, it's ASD).


https://the-art-of-autism.com/females-a ... checklist/

Beyond that I'd look at anecdotal books written by autistic people, which describe the ways their diagnostic criteria present or manifest for them.

The AQ or RAADS tests might help too, even though they're open to subjective interpretation and aren't always reliable.

None

That list was amazingly helpful - really. Yeah, the bit about being 'women' symptoms...whatever, it's all me, every bit of it. Reading it brought up a lot of validation I didn't know I was looking for. Reading it was the best part of my day. Thank you!

Strongest: Seeing the "Big Picture".

Weakest: Lack of tact.

I'm glad it helped. The list seems quite different from DSM criteria, but it really isn't.

Think of Craft's list as illustrative examples for each section of the DSM:


DSM-5 (I bolded the criteria which Craft's examples describe -- nearly all of them are referenced):


Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions.

Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging, for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures; to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication.

Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understand relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest in peers.

Severity is based on social communication impairments and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior.

Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, as manifested by at least two of the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive; see text):

Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech (e.g., simple motor stereotypes, lining up toys or flipping objects, echolalia, idiosyncratic phrases).

Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior (e.g., extreme distress at small changes, difficulties with transitions, rigid thinking patterns, greeting rituals, need to take same route or eat same food every day).

Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus (e.g., strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interests).

Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment (e.g. apparent indifference to pain/temperature, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, visual fascination with lights or movement).

Severity is based on social communication impairments and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior.

Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities, or may be masked by learned strategies in later life).

Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning. These disturbances are not better explained by intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder) or global developmental delay. Intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder frequently co-occur; to make comorbid diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability, social communication should be below that expected for general developmental level.

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The only DSM section I don't see in Craft's list pertains to stimming and repetitive movements (these are called " stereotyped or repetitive motor movements" in the DSM).

Maybe that's what Craft meant in Section D/17 when she said "Flicks/rubs fingernails, picks scalp/skin, flaps hands, rubs hands together, tucks hands under or between legs, keeps closed fists, paces in circles, and/or clears throat often."