AQ Poll

[compilerbitch]

Just out of interest, go to the Newsweek site here, take the test and post your score here. If your score isn't shown, round down to the next-lowest value available (sorry, LJ only allows 20 possible levels).
[Poll #947558]

I scored 20, by the way. I saw this originally on forest's LJ, but thought it might be interesting to post a poll based on it.

Comments

[ashley-y.livejournal.com]

19. I'm averagely non-Aspie, I guess.

[flippac.livejournal.com]

I got 25, I was diagnosed with Asperger's when I was 8.

[vampwillow]

31, rather than the 33 I clicked, but I recall doing what seem like the same set of questions a year or two back and got a much higher score. i guess this time it was just that I'd seen them before and was arguing more with myself about which of the multiple meanings most of the questions can be assigned I should use as the basis of my answer ...

[compilerbitch.livejournal.com]

I think I scored slightly higher than I should have, because I think a few of the questions triggered on some PTSD issues I have which are entirely unrelated.

[kaet.livejournal.com]

I was surprised I was so low (11 not the 9), as I sometimes wonder if I've any autistic spectrum symptoms. When I go into a party or a meeting with customers, or something, I'm always really anxious before hand, because I always think of it as "spinning up" a whole other part of my brain. But the moment people arrive I kind of flip over to it, and it's all there. Also, some social (and professional) situations involve hiding lots of things about me (personality, etc) for the general good of proceedings, which can be stressful.

Also I have problems with big groups, so a lot of the questions were skewed depending to how big the groups were.

So the library/party thing I came down on library, but the museum/theatre thing I came down on theatre (except I now realise they may have meant cinema, though I guess I would have said the same). But I think that's because in a library you can be with people in a less threatening way than at a party (either literally threatening at wild parties or internally stressful at staid dos). I've never really liked museums (particularly soc anth) because they're like life with all the people washed away, like after some neutron bomb or something.

I've no idea if this is the sort of thing they had in mind when setting up the questions though.

Btw, have you read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"? I think this is a really good "gateway" or ambiguous or playful book along this axis.

[karen2205]

Generally people with ASD do not want to communicate with others; they don't see the point in social interaction and they have 'obsessions' ie. deep interest in something specific like trains or snakes or something. Someone with ASD would probably prefer a library to explore their own obsession than a social situation that couldn't see the point in/would find difficult because of the expectation of social interaction that s/he finds hard.

There's also a correleation between ASD and sensory integration dysfunction. Often people with ASD are sensory-sensitive to noise [ie. over-react to a given noise] and will thus prefer libraries to parties because they're quieter/have fewer people in them.

I can't remember what I picked re library and party - it would depend on whose party and what type of party. I like gatherings of people to talk, eat food and drink a little with quiet background music. I don't like noisy parties where people dance rather than talk.

[the_borderer]

I got 29, but my illnesses and recent experiences probably account for that.

I did it again, trying to remember what I was like around 2000, and got an 8 which seems very low.

[splodgenoodles.livejournal.com]

If I answer as though I don't have CFS symptoms: 14

If I assume CFS symptoms to be a part of me and answer accordingly: 34

[compilerbitch.livejournal.com]

It's interesting -- if I answer on behalf of the earlier version of myself circa about 1992, I score 12. I think the test isn't really very specific, somehow.

[splodgenoodles.livejournal.com]

And I notice with interest that one other person also has different responses according to how one incorporates the effect of illness.

It's definitely not very specific and does not account for the effects of life experiences.

And of course(here's the thing with internet quizzes) it doesn't account for the difference between how you see yourself and how others see you.

[compilerbitch.livejournal.com]

Indeed. I was hoping for a discussion like this when I posted the link to the quiz and the poll, actually. I think, for myself, I've accumulated a quite a few hard knocks over the years, but have lived with a huge amount of stress for a long time due to very large numbers of smaller knocks. It's taken its toll. In my mid-20s, I wasn't agoraphobic. I probably qualify now, however, and I think it's this that skews the numbers in my case. I tend to find myself sticking to familiar patterns and not deviating from them because of the fear that results from not doing so -- I tend to be default-afraid of most people, places and situations, so I tend to minimise my exposure to them. I avoid large groups of people, generally. Groups of about 5 or 6 are fine, as is pretty much any number of people if I know them all. I'm also fine in professional situations -- I can lecture to a couple of hundred people without flinching, it doesn't bother me. But going to a *supermarket* terrifies me. Makes no sense, but I can't turn it off.

[splodgenoodles.livejournal.com]

It's taken its toll. In my mid-20s, I wasn't agoraphobic. I probably qualify now, however, and I think it's this that skews the numbers in my case.

Yep.

And in my case I find I need things to be the same in order to conserve my energy. (A mere change of scenery and I'm dazed and confused). So the test doesn't pick up on the motivation to behave in certain ways. Presumably if one is autistic, certain behaviours are the default option regardless of life experience.

The thing about being able to do public speaking but freaking out about supermarkets and such, makes perfect sense to me. (I have a few social anxiety problems, always had them but they're excacerbated by illness, but a greater level of comfort with public speaking than most people. I kind of enjoy it.)

I suspect it's because when I'm doing something that counts as public speaking, I feel I have control that I don't have in other situations. I have prepared what I'm going to say, I know what I'm talkign about and I don't have to try and work out how much to say and when to say it. Also, I don't have to struggle for attention (big problem for me, I'm really good at saying stuff and being ignored for some reason.)

[pinguhateseng.livejournal.com]

Wooops I used a strange picture there. It's way too early in the morning.

Anyway. I got 29, which I suspect is linked to my experiences in Russia. They've definately made me more cynical and introverted.

[bloodofareptile.livejournal.com]

I got 26, which the test tells me is "above average".

I have to say I don't quite understand what this means. I don't know much about autism, and nothing about Asperger's...

[(Anonymous)]

aspergers is sometimes refered to as 'extreme male brain sysndrome' people with it tend to systemise and order things, as well as remember numbers etc much better than average, and equally they are worse than average at more traditionally feminine things such as empathising, reading between the lines, socialising etc.

Aspergers people are normal to high IQ, autistic tend to be low IQ. As children they are hard to relate to (interpersonal skills being not there) they don't empathise, and they might go round collecting things in categories - such as a list of everyones birthdays, or the bus number people arrive to school on, and want to collect the Entire List.

They will fail tests like 'what do you think is in this tube of smarties little freddie?"
"Smarties!" says Freddie
tester: "oh no, look, it's a pen!"
tester: "now freddie, what do you think Bert over there who'd not been watching will say when I ask him what's in the smarties tube?"

If freddie is autistic he'll say 'A pen!' (assuming bert has the knowledge he has now)
If freddie isn't autistic and is old enough (eg over five I think) he'll say 'Smarties!' (realising that bert will have no reason to assume there is a pen in the smarties tube and isn't pyschic etc)

Something like that anyway.

[aiwendel.livejournal.com]

meh accidentally tried to post anonymously and lj ate it :-/

[bloodofareptile.livejournal.com]

LJ didn't eat it... Sarah has anonymous posting screened!

I got the e-mail though, and Sarah has now un-screened it.

Thanks!

[aiwendel.livejournal.com]

ah I wondered if that was the case, but it said ERROR and then wouldn't reload...
Glad I didn't retype it! :)

[aiwendel.livejournal.com]

hmf done the whole test and have a 'your aq score: take test again'
grr computers don't like me this morning.

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

I scored just marginally on the high side of what they claim is average (22).

I think I'd have scored a lot more a few years ago, before I made the group of friends I have at present - since hanging out with these folks, my social energy has quadrupled, and I actually enjoy being around people more than two nights a week, whereas in the past it would have made me curl into a ball and hide.

I assume if anyone who is moderately antisocial for whatever reason takes the test, they come out as fairly Aspie...

[loubieloutoo.livejournal.com]

I scored 28 which confused me a bit! I have to say though some of it is not necessarily directly related to autism - I hear some small sounds as I have a very slight hearing problem which means that noises at the same or similar pitch like conservation get muddled but I can hear our doorbell

[loubieloutoo.livejournal.com]

(nearly got catught by the chief exec!) which is at a different pitch. It can also make understanding conversations difficult. But I am very routine based as Ariza_phale will happily tell you

[azir-aphale.livejournal.com]

who is this ariza_phale?! Are you cheating on me again? :/

I scored 15, but even 6 mths ago I think I would have scored a lot higher due to my social anxiety. Its also totally mitigated by my utter inability to grasp anything involving numbers and other pattern-recognition based questions as I am useless - my brain just doesn't like it. I think I also score relatively lowly because, due to social anxiety stuff, I am always hyper aware of people around me and very conscious of their body language/ facial expressions etc. which is the total opposite of any autistic/ asperger's related behaviour.

[asheep.livejournal.com]

eep 36

And I think I got about 35 doing something similar elsewhere. (with the same sort of scoring mechanism)

I think I scored too high due to self image and things though... (I tend to be pessimistic on things like this...)

[stephenpthomas.livejournal.com]

I scored 34. This surprises me.

[phlebas.livejournal.com]

17. I am Average Man.

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

I scored 33. I don't really get why empathy and systemising skills are considered opposite, I've always tended to do/have both myself. Any ideas?

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

I scored 30. I've suspected for a while I have some of the symptoms of autism-spectrum disorders, though not enough to be diagnosed as manifesting autism or Aspergers, but this is a very informal hunch, as I don't know really enough about it.

As a teenager, I'd have answered more positively; I was then fascinated by some of the more obvious ASD-related entries in the test, e.g. numbers, and I did indeed go through a phase, when I was about eleven or twelve, of collecting car registration plates—I had a log book which I noted down every one I saw in. (As a child, I went through a phase of simply counting, and got to one and a half million before I got bored.) Taking the test again and answering as I would have as a teenager, I scored 35.

I don't know what it says about your f-list that the mean of your respondents' answers is considerably higher than the average they report in the test...

[vanessapyjamas.livejournal.com]

I got 7, which either means I interpreted the questions differently to everyone else, or I've got an appallingly case of Neurotypical Syndrome - http://isnt.autistics.org/

But on the subject of question interpretation, the words themselves cause me some problems, phrases like 'I find it difficult to work out peoples intentions' are hard to parse. At one level everyone should agree with that. It is always hard, none of us are telepathic. On the other hand, clearly some of us find it easier to work out (or at least think we do) than others. I'd put myself in that camp, but if I answered the question literally I'd have to say 'strongly agree'.

Of course taking things literally is often a trait of ASD so maybe that isn't too much of a problem. And as the test says, it can't be used as a diagnostic tool for individuals.

I must admit I'm suspicious of the work of the Cambridge group and their attempts to link ASD in with the much wider phenomena of social anxiety and ritualistic thinking. I know they are trying to normalise ASD which is very worthy, but I can't help thinking that in the process they pathologise fairly normal dimensions of human experience.

[blue-mai.livejournal.com]

28. slightly surprised it's above test average, but note it's your poll's average. several questions had rather 'it depends' answers so whether i put down 'slightly agree' or 'slightly disagree' i didn't feel particularly strongly about. answered as my present self, so ignored stuff like that i used to memorise numbers as a kid. generally, i'm very keen on spontaneity, but also quite keen on patterns. question 1: well, i like doing things by myself, generally, but i like being with other people. so long as i'm not doing stuff. i mean certain things are ok, like seeing exhibitions. and drinking.
i might get the boy to take it. i imagine he'd score quite high. he's just a little bit misanthropic. overall i don't think it's a very telling test.

BTW what's PTSD mean?

[bloodofareptile.livejournal.com]

PTSD = Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

:)

[shermarama]

I was doing much the same thing on a substantial number of 'it depends' type questions, I had fairly few definite answers either way.

I got 21 - I dunno, I'm a reasonably sociable person and not the sort to be anxious at all, but I happen to like numbers and patterns.

[tea-cantata.livejournal.com]

Fairly significant rounding here - 36 rather than 33. The test does seem a bit cursory and flawed, though, and seems to heavily skew based on the whole social chitchat thing. Also, what of people who are aware of the fact they are bad at reading between the lines? Are they more or less autistic than people who just are bad at it, but have no idea of it?

I wonder how (if at all) this "autism quotient" maps against MBTI types.

[the-alchemist.livejournal.com]

Ha! That's pretty much exactly what I was going to say.

[mirabehn.livejournal.com]

Mine was 15, rather than 13. Dead-on average for a woman.

This is lower than I expected, and notable lower than it was when I took the text a year or so ago, when I was having more trouble with the anxiety disorder than I do now.

It would also be interesting to note how my answers would change were I well enough to be out and about every day - I tend towards feeling sociable as a rule because getting to see people is something of a rarity for me. On the other hand, some of my score might be affected in the autism direction because of the M.E.

If I do make a complete or near-complete recovery and start working or training full-time, I must remember to take the test again and see.

This is a very interesting poll. :-)

[sunflowerinrain.livejournal.com]

It said "nyer, nyer, nyer, this is Flash, sod off" or words to that effect.

[otterylexa.livejournal.com]

I had a problem with the question along the lines of "do you notice a small change in a situation, or someone's appearance?". I notice small changes in a situation. I don't notice small changes in someone's appearance. Big changes (like hair style or hair colour) and I'll most likely fail to recognise them entirely, unless I have their gait memorised.

Got 27, BTW. Would possibly score higher if I didn't have a PTSD issue that means I attempt to randomise routes, times and activities to avoid ambush.

[pfy.livejournal.com]

Now I think about it, are the questions about chit-chat, social events etc. assuming that you get to pick the people with whom you're socialising, or are they assuming a random sample of people? I socialise reasonably well with people who are about as geeky as I am, but I find things are often more awkward with übergeeks or normal people.

[scaryj.livejournal.com]

I got 37! which I thought was rather high. Mind you my mother had her suspicions about me being autistic at an early age since I didn't tend to play with other children much.

Thing is since leaving school I don't have social anxiety and didn't have it much at school. It's just I don't find people that interesting a lot of the time. I can identify with not finding fiction that interesting. Sometimes I try and push myself to read literature but most of the time it doesn't work. When I do it tends to be sci-fi.

Still 37 is rather high considering I have not got an official diagnosis, but I reckon its not that uncommon amongst physicists.

[karen2205]

To diagnose an ASD you need evidence of the Triad of impairments.

Lots of things cause people to have 'ASD'y scores using questionnaires.

People who have language disorders and hearing impairments can present with similar difficulties to those with ASD because they haven't been able to access enough language to learn social skills/non-verbal communication the way people without language disorders or hearing impairments do.

I can see how PTSD could cause ASD-like symptoms.

[karen2205]

I spend a lot of time talking to potential new clients at work and I'm now pretty good at guessing when someone's about to tell me they have a son (usually) with ASD. There's something in the voice/their difficulty in turn taking during the call/relatively rigid thinking that cues me in to it.

[liv]

That test is set up a bit stupidly, but it makes interesting conversation fodder. When I took a slightly more sophisticated version, though of course still a meaningless internet test, I scored as borderline between very male-brained (in Baron-Cohen's specialized sense, not in the TG or general lay senses) and mildly Aspie. That sounds about right to me; my score of 27 on this test I don't think is realistic at all.