The AQ is a test that, is in my (very autistic) opinion, completely fucking bunk and crap and should be ignored completely. It is based solely on ableist, and extremely out of date STEREOTYPES of autism. The test has no nuance at all. There are so many problems wrong with it I just can’t even list them all.
- I prefer to do things the same way over and over again.
- I frequently get so strongly absorbed in one thing that I lose sight of other things.
- I often notice small sounds when others do not.
- I usually notice car number plates or similar strings of information.
- Other people frequently tell me that what I’ve said is impolite, even though I think it is polite.
- I am fascinated by dates.
- I tend to notice details that others do not.
- I would rather go to a library than to a party.
- I tend to have very strong interests, which I get upset about if I can’t pursue.
- When I talk, it isn’t always easy for others to get a word in edgewise.
- I am fascinated by numbers.
- When I’m reading a story, I find it difficult to work out the characters’ intentions.
- I don’t particularly enjoy reading fiction.
- I find it hard to make new friends.
- I notice patterns in things all the time.
- I frequently find that I don’t know how to keep a conversation going.
- When I talk on the phone, I’m not sure when it’s my turn to speak.
- I am often the last to understand the point of a joke.
- People often tell me that I keep going on and on about the same thing.
- I like to collect information about categories of things (e.g., types of cars, birds, trains, plants).
- I find it difficult to imagine what it would be like to be someone else.
- I like to carefully plan any activities I participate in.
- I find it difficult to work out people’s intentions.
- New situations make me anxious.
- I prefer to do things with others rather than on my own.
- If I try to imagine something, I find it very easy to create a picture in my mind.
- I am a good diplomat.
- When I’m reading a story, I can easily imagine what the characters might look like.
- In a social group, I can easily keep track of several different people’s conversations.
- I find social situations easy.
- I find making up stories easy.
- I find myself drawn more strongly to people than to things.
- I enjoy meeting new people.
- I enjoy social chitchat.
- I am not very good at remembering people’s date of birth.
- I find it very easy to play games with children that involve pretending.
- I enjoy social occasions.
- When I was young, I used to enjoy playing games involving pretending with other children.
- I am good at social chitchat.
- If there is an interruption, I can switch back to what I was doing very quickly.
- I find it easy to work out what someone is thinking or feeling just by looking at their face.
- I enjoy doing things spontaneously.
- I would rather go to the theater than to a museum.
- It does not upset me if my daily routine is disturbed.
- I find it easy to “read between the lines” when someone is talking to me.
- I usually concentrate more on the whole picture, rather than on the small details.
- I am not very good at remembering phone numbers.
- I know how to tell if someone listening to me is getting bored.
- I don’t usually notice small changes in a situation or a person’s appearance.
- I find it easy to do more than one thing at once.
It honestly feels as though its expected that all autistic people must fit the mould of the autistic savant that has their entire life reolve around numbers. Despite many autistic people having expressed a special interest or skill with mathmatics, it is not a useful classifier to figure out if someone is autistic or not AT ALL.
Like allistic people, autistic people can also be introverted, extroverted, or any amount of either. Many of us may have had or continue to have issues with social situations, however, this does not mean that we should be assumed to be automatically introverted, and additionally it should not be assumed that an introverted allistic person should be told they are more likely to be autistic because of their preferences.
Autistic people ARE NOT FUCKING ROBOTS. Most, if not all autistic people have some kind of imagination, especially when we’re young. A bigger issue is ability to express ourselves in ways that are well understood by allistic people.
The AQ is scored on a scale from 0 to 50, scores 0-25 indicate a lack of “autistic traits”, 26-32 mean “some autistic traits” and above 32 means most likely autistic according to the criterion supplied by the AQ
- test results from 4 autistic women (who’s diagnosis is well
established and not being formed from these kinds of tests)
type of diagnosis score formal (autism) 23 formal (aspergers) 25 formal (autism) 29 self-dx 32