Questions about the provided tests and diagnosis

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Hi all, this is my first time joining as personal a forum as this. A bit of my background information - I'm a 33 yr. old male and have suspected for the last few months that I have Asperger's. Of this I am now certain, and my questions and suspicions are now gravitating to where I may be on the spectrum. The thought of HFA has even crossed my mind. I have not been officially diagnosed yet.

I've taken a number of the tests in the listed thread, and all of them seem to point to autism. I was actually taken aback by how acutely aware of myself they made me feel. It was scary how much I was able to draw parallels to my life experiences, even down to my early childhood. I know these tests are not to be taken as an official diagnosis, but how accurate would you guys say they are; how reputable, if you will?

I was already familiar with the rdos and AQ -
Aspie score - 176/200
Social - 38/200
AQ - 45

I didn't take all of the tests, though it seems you folks are aware of the broken links. For the couple I did take:
EQ - 49/100
BAP - You scored 120 aloof, 106 rigid and 95 pragmatic
You scored above the cutoff on all three scales. Clearly, you are either autistic or on the broader autistic phenotype. You probably are not very social, and when you do interact with others, you come off as strange or rude without meaning to. You probably also like things to be familiar and predictable and don't like changes, especially unexpected ones.

I've only seen a psychiatrist a few times so far, but I have brought up some of this with him. Unfortunately, I have to say he seemed a bit disinterested at the prospect, at least as far as I could tell (I also always catch myself wondering if whomever I may be talking to believes what I am saying, as I know that I tend to come off as very nervous in strict conversation). I gave him my full rdos printout, but should I be more persistent? Am I even seeing the right type of specialist?

I would like to apologize for the rather lengthy post, esp. for a first one, but all of this is very new to me right now, and I would like to also thank you in advance for ANY information/advice you can provide.

Sincerely,

Forbidden_Donut

Statistically the tests seem to be fairly reputable, so scoring highly in them suggests it is worth looking into. Relating to childhood experiences also points to the possibility, but it is difficult to know for certain from the tests alone. Equally, psychiatrists sometimes see things through their own specialist 'lens' of interest, whether that is autism or psychosis or depression, they may interpret things in that way and not consider other explanations. One thing for sure, a specialist assessment would be needed to know where you are on the spectrum, I don't know of a quiz that can do that.

I was wondering if it would be possible to have this thread moved to the 'Getting to know each other' section. Had I not completely missed it, I would have posted this topic there to begin with, for a proper introduction, of course.

Thanx,

Donut

Hi and welcome to the forum. Quite new here myself since I just made the AS discovery a couple of months ago at age 30. It's a bit of a shock when you have been trying to be NT your whole life and never understanding why things were not improving.

The tests are mostly what's known as screening tests meaning that they are not intended to tell you if you have an ASD rather, they tell the doctor or phyc that there is the possibility you might (along with a whole bunch of other possibilities which they would presumably try to rule out as part of a proper assessment). For that reason, you cannot rely on the tests alone. In my case I came to the realisation following reading about personal experiences growing up and also as an adult having AS, taking a number of tests, reading in massive detail about the traits, mental differences, behaviours etc and watching countless video blogs by aspies explaining the condition and how it effects their lives. I also spoke to some close friends, my wife and my family to find out more about different stages of my life from another perspective. I then went to see my GP and explained all the reasons I suspected AS and they had no problem referring me (although this can be slow and two months later I am still waiting to hear when I will be seen).

Good luck and I hope you find your answers.