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Falo
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27 May 2013, 3:25 am

I am wondering if the so-called autistic tests have any kind of reliability. Take the typical question: "I like to do the same thing over and over again". Most people do. Few people change their lifestyle very much. They do the same (or much the same) kind of work for the whole life, eat about the same dishes, watch the same kind of TV broadcasting, buy the same kind of things, etc... A lot of advertisers try to analyze your interests (Google analytics), this is because these interests don't fully change from one day to another.

The real question is "have you this trait more pronounced than other people". But it is very difficult because we have to know exactly how other people behave. Given that a trait of autistic people is a difficulty to interpret other behaviours and/or mind; knowing exactly how you differ from the mean is difficult. It is at least a case for me, I usually don't know how I compare to other people.

Many questions are of the same kind. Like "can you easily make two think at once?". Most people have "difficulties" in the sense that for most (if not all) people, it is more difficult than to make a single thing at once. Again the real question is "is it more difficult for you than for someone else?"



PhilospherGhost
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27 May 2013, 3:37 am

Absolutely correct here. And during diagnosis the majority of people are going to be having problems and they will not think any deeper than the initial question.



vanhalenkurtz
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27 May 2013, 4:30 am

Insightful musings.


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TPE2
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27 May 2013, 5:26 am

My main problem with autistic tests is other - the reliability of these tests is established comparing the results of autistic and "normal" people, and seeing if there is significand differences.

But, in real world, nobody is in doubt "I am autistic or normal?"; the doubts are "I am autistic or I have ADHD?" or "I am autistic or gifted?" or "I am autistic or I have mantal retardation?", or "I am autistic or schizoid?", or something like that.

And I am not sure if these tests are good in diferentiating autism for other kinds of neurologycal or psychological differences, because they are not calibrated with that intention.



hektik27
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27 May 2013, 5:31 am

This is why people say the test are unreliable, they're quite open to interpretation (the questions, that is).

For a most accurate diagnosis, get diagnosed by a professional.



Verdandi
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27 May 2013, 6:02 am

Falo wrote:
I am wondering if the so-called autistic tests have any kind of reliability. Take the typical question: "I like to do the same thing over and over again". Most people do. Few people change their lifestyle very much. They do the same (or much the same) kind of work for the whole life, eat about the same dishes, watch the same kind of TV broadcasting, buy the same kind of things, etc... A lot of advertisers try to analyze your interests (Google analytics), this is because these interests don't fully change from one day to another.

The real question is "have you this trait more pronounced than other people". But it is very difficult because we have to know exactly how other people behave. Given that a trait of autistic people is a difficulty to interpret other behaviours and/or mind; knowing exactly how you differ from the mean is difficult. It is at least a case for me, I usually don't know how I compare to other people.

Many questions are of the same kind. Like "can you easily make two think at once?". Most people have "difficulties" in the sense that for most (if not all) people, it is more difficult than to make a single thing at once. Again the real question is "is it more difficult for you than for someone else?"


The tests are reliable screening tools but are not intended for use as diagnostic tools.

You're approaching the questions the wrong way - they're not asking you "do you do this more than most people?" They're asking "is this consistent with how you view yourself?" And it's not just one question at a time, but 50 questions or so (for the AQ) with an aggregate outcome based on most or all of the answers, that suggest whether not autism is a possibility.

If you want an actual diagnosis, you'll need an evaluation by a professional. They may use evaluation tools that are different and do not rely upon your subjective responses, at least not in the same manner that the screening tests do.

So, of course these tests are not reliable for diagnosing autism, but that's not why they exist.



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27 May 2013, 6:18 am

I agree, but even the opinion of a psychologist can be unreliable if they're not professionalized in autism.
When I told the university psychologist that I struggled with my social life, she responded like: "Well, who doesn't..."

While I pretty much ignored the result of the first test I took, I've now taken about 10 tests, and they all yield the same result. For me, that's enough certainty.
(I still want to get a diagnosis, but it will only be possible in 2 years.)



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27 May 2013, 9:58 am

Are we talking about the RDOS-designed Aspie Quiz, or diagonostic tests used by licensed mental health practioners? I'm seeing references to both ITT.


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Verdandi
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27 May 2013, 4:29 pm

RDOS' Aspie Quiz is about as accurate as any screening quiz.