AQ Score 38.0, advice plz, am female

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hello,

something made me take the autism spectrum quotient test today
obviously not a great diagnostic tool

i got score 38.0

does this indicate anything or can i just leave it alone

i am 27 years old, pretty sick and tired of the field of medicine
wondering if i need to learn new things about myself that has been buried.. life is going alright finally... friends are zero.. but that is okay...

thanks

I do not know the answer. It does seem like an assessment maybe a plan...

You have friends in here.

You should get an interesting collection of responses to that!

I think you are talking about the Autism-Spectrum Quotient Test but I'm a little confused by the score you posted: "38.0". I thought the AQ test only gave scores that were whole numbers. Assuming we're talking about the same test...

When I took the AQ test I scored 40 and the score came with the annotation "Scores in the 33-50 range indicate significant Autistic traits (Autism)."--which amounts to saying definitely maybe. Would the score indicate anything? Well, definitely maybe. Can you just leave it alone? It sounds like you definitely can, it is up to you.

Before I took the AQ test I used the Internet to learn about Autism...and an awful lot of what I found sounded like me. (I especially liked the humor from the Autism community--which was enlightening!) That motivated me to take the test and then my score motivated me to get formally tested. And I got an "official" diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Level 1 (Mild). I was down in the mild end of the Specturm, in the area that used to be called Asperger's Syndrome.

But my situation had one obvious, big difference from yours. AGE. I was 64 years old when I became curious about Autism; I received my diagnosis shortly before my 65th birthday. And I really was looking into Autism because I was curious whether it applied to me, there was no compelling reason for me to pursue it other than personal curiosity.

After my psychologist told me (and my bride) my diagnosis she asked for my reaction. I had four:

(1) That's wonderful! It explains so much of my life! Finally I know what was going on! (Actually, it may have been more like "Finally I know what is wrong with everyone!") I insisted we buy champagne on the way home.

(2) Maybe now I can get my other medical practitioners to do things more in a way that works for me. (Remember my age. There are other medical practitioners in my life!) (By the way...not so much. They pretty much keep doing things the same way they always did. It is annoying.)

(3) Now when one of my Autistic traits affects something I can explain "I have a doctor's note for that!" (By the way...this entertains me much more than it entertains my bride.)

(4) Oooh! Maybe a new Special Interest?! (If you know or learn much about Asperger's you'll learn about that.)

But my age is different than yours. By the time I got the diagnosis I'd been comfortably retired for eight years. The only practical use I could see for the diagnosis was that maybe I could get my doctors to put things in writing and not use so much jargon.

For me, the diagnosis was not a warning about obstacles I would have to get past, it was about obstacles I had already, unknowingly gotten past. I had obliviously muddled through life just fine.

Oh, and the only way other people will find out about my diagnosis is if they figure it our or if I tell them. I'm actually inclined to tell folk who I trust not to be jerks about it...maybe it will initiate a conversation I find interesting!

But YOU? Your choice! (How curious are you??)

In any event, you seem interested in the topic so Welcome to WP!

The AQ test definitely has its pros and cons, but it's a decent starting point if you're curious to know more.

The other online test that I'd recommend is called the RAADS-R.

Here's a link to RAADS-R:
https://www.aspietests.org/raads/

And here's a link to another Wrong Planet thread where we discussed RAADS-R:
viewtopic.php?t=396717

This online tool takes a while but it's more thorough in my opinion, involving more of the "Part B" issues from the DSM5 diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

My AQ score was 49 but I'm a rare bird. Many people fall in the high 30's or low 40's. My RAADS-R score was 191/200.

I went for a clinical assessment in 2018 and yup, it's official. I'm as Neurodiverse as they come.

To be clear, an autism/ASD diagnosis is if symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning. It also must be present from childhood.

There is no need to get diagnosed if you are fine. Not sure a career change is anything special: lots of people change careers.

An AQ test simply shows a risk of autism, but that is not the same as being autistic: you will need a diagnosis for that. So AQ is kind of like IQ, they both measure a specific set of criteria, but neither are defining as people tend to be broader than what is being tested.

Maybe the true test is going to be whether you can now leave it alone...
...or whether you start perseverating on the idea and studying up about autism as if it were topic for a thesis.

(We'll be happy to have you here either way).