Asperger's test

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What do you think of this test?

> http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php
> >
> > Unlike the Simon Baron-Cohen autism test, this one
> > focuses on a wide range of factors including
> > physiology.
> >

Someone who's extremely geeky and extremely introverted (who I assumed was HFA or AS -- 5 on the Enneagram) came out with low scores:

> > Here's what I got:
> > Your Aspie score: 48
> > Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 132

I figured she had many of my personality traits, but when I took the test, I was in for a surprise:

> Your Aspie score: 122
> Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 69
> You are very likely an Aspie

Whatever it tests, it manages to discriminate between people who are just shy/geeky and true autism spectrum people (though a sample of 2 doesn't often help).

Do you buy it?

ACG

I buy it more than most tests if I'm interpreting the scoring correctly.

I think the database is comparing the answers of those people who are officially diagnosed with the general population and modifying itself as it gets more respondants. If this is the case, I trust it more than generic quizzes which come up with a list of things aspies are "supposed" to do according to current literature, and then compares everyone's answers against them.

Straightfoward, logical, mildly interesting...

... and it works, which is the most important thing.

Your Aspie score: 130
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 70
You are very likely an Aspie

Your Aspie score: 90
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 133
You are more neurotypical than Aspie

I wish it was that clean a break; if anything I probably am mostly NT but what I do have in terms of aspie traits are probably the most salient points, at least in terms of outbound communication (especially in the expressive and nonverbal department).

That's weird. I got Your Aspie score: 132. Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 73. How can I have both a higher Aspie score AND a higher neurotypical score than someone else? The test is
one of the better ones out there, though definately an Aspie test compared with a Autism test. Take the question "Do people sometimes think you are smiling at the wrong occasion?" for example. They need to include more possibilities for answers like, "No, I hardly ever smile". Simply using a 0/1/2 scoring system, won't return that. You would have to answer 0, but it would be scored wrong because your reason for returning that number would be autistic. It's the same with this question, "Do you have difficulties judging unseen limits and other people's personal space unless clearly instructed?" I would answer 0 because I hate being near other people, so I never invade their personal space. There's several more questions like that in the test, so it's not really that good a test, imho. It tests for a specific type of Autistic person, and then says they have a higher AS score.

I agree there are a lot of ambiguous questions, but I find that to be true of any multiple choice test I take, so I generally ignore it and go with what I know the question is intended to mean, not how it's actually worded. So for the smile one, I might have answered "2" not because it was true, but because rarely smiling would rank as a high spectrum trait relating to facial expression.

I've taken this before. Something like 169 AS and 30 or 40-something NT.

Even though you understand that, pyraxis, for a test intended for Aspies to take, it's poorly worded given literal interpretation and inability answering ambiguous questions are characteristics of the test's intended users.

Hmmm, that Enneagram test is ok. http://similarminds.com/advtest.html
I got a 9: "Nines are calm, laid-back, and optimistic. They are able to see everyone's point of view and have a natural desire for peace. Nines are effective mediators. Fearful of conflict and separation from others, they can be too accommodating."
The only thing I'd change, is the "fearful of separation from others". It's not that at all, just the dislike of confrontations. 80% on Calmness, 77% on Detachment, 56% on Perfectionism and Anxiety. The rest were all under 50%.
My variant is Self-preservation (sp/so/sx): "Overall, you score highest on withdrawn traits (sp), followed by compliant traits (so), and lowest on assertive traits (sx)"

On the global personality test, these were words descriptive of my personality traits: secretive, reclusive, messy, disorganized, introverted, unassertive, rarely worries, dislikes large parties, does not like to fit in, does not need to control others, solitary, ambivalent about chaos, tough, leisurely, does not respect authority, not aggressive, observer, abstract, impractical, dislikes leadership, daydreamer, bizarre, does not make friends easily, not a perfectionist, suspicious, rarely irritated, strong physical instincts, unsympathetic at times, risk taker, submissive, weird, sarcastic, strange.

I'd consider that a pretty accurate description of myself.

There are still problems with people being officially diagnosed with AS getting low scores. According to evaluations of version II and III, 25% that select "I am officially diagnosed with AS/HFA/PDD" are categorized as NTs. This figure is only 15% for self-diagnosed, which is strange. In the initial version these figures were a lot lower, even if version III should contain much more relevant questions than I and II. I think this can be explained by self-awerness issues. People that have been on Aspie-forums for a while are more likely to receive high scores than newly diagnosed. I don't know if there is much to do about this. I suspect this problem will persist to some degree even as the quiz evolves.

The next version will probably be more aimed as a "Neuro-Diversity" test and will focus more on related conditions. The aim will be to show that these conditions can be considered "light-Aspie" rather than something novel.

I would guess it's also somewhat related to people seeing what they want to see.

A couple days ago there was another internet test circulated around the office, this one for your percentage of geek/nerd/dorkiness. Now most of the coworkers are geeks and proud of it and it turned into an unofficial competition to see who was the most geeky. There were even several questions on the test that asked things like "I'm exaggerating my answers to increase my geek score" and "I'm outright lying to increase my geek score".

I think a lot of people take internet tests to have reinforced what they want to hear, and that skews their answers as they begin to second-guess and figure out the test. Someone who's officially diagnosed doesn't have to skew their answers cause the question of their diagnosis/reinforcement of their identity isn't so up in the air.

Before I got my diagnosis I heard a lecture by a doctor who's supposed to be an expert on the subject, and was dissappointed to hear him describe the "essential" traits of AS, as if to say someone could be 99% autistic but he would diagnose them as NT if they didn't have a particular trait that he considered essential. I think that attitude is more common among doctors who diagnose young children; kids haven't learned coping skills and don't have a record of failed relationships or lost jobs so you have to judge them based only on what you see during the doctor's visits.

The problem doctors have with diagnosing adults is that while the neurological cause of ASDs is considered permanent, we are also typically intelligent and can eventually learn some social skills the hard way. When the doctor sees an adult with marginal Aspie traits he has to decide whether the patient is an NT person with a personality disorder or an Aspie who has managed to find ways of functioning in spite of AS. The question is tougher than it might seem, as it's very hard for an outside observer to know what mental process I use to carry on a conversation (scripts versus analysis versus instinct) or how I deal with colloquialisms and sarcasm (memorization versus understanding).

I was relieved to find out my doctor takes a holistic approach to diagnosis - although he did refer to the DSM to look for those traits that had a very obvious yes/no answer, we spent most of our time discussing my childhood and early adult history so that he could get a sense of how and when I developed certain skills or managed to stop certain behaviors. We also talked about more recent history so he could see how certain deficiencies, although subtle, have been causing problems my whole life.

The problem with web questionnaires is that they usually ignore trends and want a single answer to each question. The answers are subjective (and are influenced by what result you are expecting to get) and there's no clear way to differentiate between an intermittent severe difficulty and a constant mild one.

FWIW, my web scores were 132 aspie, 88 non-autistic, "more aspie than NT". The doc concluded I'm definitely Aspie but have acquired a good set of coping skills and blend into NT society much better now than I did when I was younger.

Your Aspie score: 79
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 102
You are more neurotypical than Aspie

Hmmm, here's something for you. It's a pretty crappy verbal test that gives you a bunch of really really hard words. I only got 27%, and I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about vocabulary. It's more of a vocabulary test rather than a verbal IQ test, I reckon. Anyway, test yourself on it. I wonder if Aspies will do better on it than HFAers.

But, with questions such as

I am not sure what this quiz is actually measuring!

Your Aspie score: 170
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 41
You are very likely an Aspie


I think Ive done this one before....