Does this mean I do not have Asperger's?

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I did the Baron Cohen eye expressions test (see bumped thread) and got 34 out of 36

I don't know how honest I was because a lot of the time I thought "That person has (e.g.) narrow eyes and I know that is supposed to mean they are suspicious" - working it out rather than directly responding.

Also some of them were women with blank eyes but with make-up on and you were supposed to put "fantasising" and "desire" ... I did put that but only because I know that's what men feel like when they look at blank expressionless female eyes with make up on. When I found out it was correct I was really annoyed because S.B.C is supposed to be a psychology genius and yet he could not tell the difference between HIS REACTION to a picture and what the person in the picture is supposed to be feeling.

Basically I just thought "What am I supposed to put?" rather than "what is this person feeling?"

BUT NONETHELESS - try as I might to explain it away - I got almost 100% - I'm sorry to be saying this because I know many of you would be really happy with that score but right now I feel disappointed - I was really starting to feel like I could make sense of myself with this AS label.

I don't think I can leave it alone though ... stop posting on here ... here is really good

I had a test that I "cheated" on by using other clues. It was a facial recognition test. I was shown a bunch of cards with photos of people. I was then shown a book that had photos two by two. I could see what the majority of people had picked due to indentations in the cardstock from which the book was made. I recalled 10% (crazy moustache man, for example). I used my educated guess for the rest. After the test, I simply told the person what I did and how it would skew results. I was praised for using an adaptive technique.

Sounds like you basically did the same thing by reasoning out what the answer should be, not how you see it. You see vacant eyes and makeup and can reason that it is "desire" (or that's what she's trying to achieve). To you, it just looks a bit what? Empty? Since people in real life aren't just photos that we can study, that kind of deductive reasoning may get you a little farther along, but as a facial expression changes you may have to re-reason it out again. Doesn't mean you interpret eye expressions the same way as a NT or that your reasoning isn't serving you well. You've found a way to work around a problem. You're clever. That's OK - I'd just explain it to the tester.

Oh and by the way, one test usually doesn't make or break a diagnosis.

Generally, you don't have an ASD when a professional doesn't think you do (barring exceptions), rather than what a single test says.

also: not everyone on the spectrum is face blind. even many who started out faceblind learn skills to to compensate for that.

It was a bad test.
First, it was multiple choice.
This does not happen in life.
Second, most of the answers weren't really relevant.
I thought of joking when I saw the desire one.

First of all, are you doing this yourself or with a professional?

Second of all, if you're doing it with a professional, wait until the test results come in. If you're self-diagnosing, go to a psychiatrist.

Not necessarily. Reasoning that someone else probably wanted you to answer 'desire' is a very different thing form actually being competent at reading faces.

By the way, being good at face reading doesn't mean you don't have it - reading faces and body language is a skill you can learn. I remember when I wondered why people waved their hands about when talking, and got comments about how I never used my hands to express myself.

You're 31 years old. Don't you think you've developed some abilities over the years by the sheer volume of day-to-day trial and error?

I keep reminding people that the DSM was designed for diagnosing AS in children. It's criteria do not take into account the COPING MECHANISMS that adults have developed over a lifetime of being forced to adapt to a world that they don't naturally fit into. We have become unconscious chameleons, learning by observation how to mimic the indigenous organisms.

would someone please link the test?

here is the link

http://glennrowe.net/BaronCohen/Faces/EyesTest.aspx

edited because I put a link to the wrong test first - duh

I took it. I got 43%.

I'm sure I remember reading in Attwood's book that we are able to 'get the right' answer in regards to reading body language, but in general we use deduction and reasoning rather than intuition, but that means we take just a bit longer to work it out because it has to be done as a concious act.

The other issue is that some people do the rather "abstracted" (from reality) Baron-Cohen expression and facial recognition tests and score highly because the test is a single focus task that makes reading them easier than in real life. I can do ok on those tests, because I use my mental faculties to do so and I work out what the expressions mean cognitively. I am clinically dx'ed. But put me in real life situation with people and all the complexities they entail and I can get very lost and overwhelmed and i cannot keep up with words, faces, expressions, information etc.

I would also say - I don't think it is wise asking a bunch of people online if you have AS or not... on the basis of an online test and your failure/success at it.
Maybe think about going and getting professionally assessed. And if not, work it out for yourself (and also get feedback from family and others who have known you and know your development over time,) and try to work out what fits and does not fit with regards to the triad of impairments and ASD criteria in a systematic and thorough way.

I scored a 17. I hated that test. How can you tell from just eyes?

Doesn't mean you don't have aspergers. I am extremely good at reading eye expressions, I think with a lot of aspies different traits come through worse than others.

This.

I thought I was really good with those tests but turns out I'm pretty bad.
But I agree that you've probably learned skills to compensate.
Just because there is one AS trait you don't have doesn't mean you don't have AS.
I'm bad at math, have an average IQ, didn't learn to read at 3 days old (exaggeration) and even my long term memory isn't that great.