Published on 12, July, 2020
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a search function for this forum, so it isn't easy to see if this has been discussed. If it has, I'm sorry, please point me to an appropriate thread, and I'll go there.
I've taken the ASQ test ( https://embraceasd.com/autism-spectrum-quotient-asq/ ) several times over the past decade or so, and score between 22 and 26 - which puts me well below the level at which it is likely for there to be a diagnosis of ASD. Hence my mention of 'imposter syndrome' in the title - I don't think that I am high enough on the scale to belong here.
However, the reason I am writing is that I'm interested in where I can find discussions, and recommendations for people who are sub-clinical. Quite a lot of technical people, scientists, mathematicians and similar, score in this range. Quite a lot of people I interact with at work score in this range.
There doesn't seem to be anywhere for such people to discuss what is not a pathological problem, but is an unusual, possibly atypical, maybe even neuroatypical, response to, and interaction with, the world.
Please could you let me know if there is such a place.
One thing to bear in mind is that you may be "masking". I scored 26 (from memory) when I first did the test, but now have an autism diagnosis and generally score around 39 if I do the test now. Try to answer questions according to what you would genuinely, in your heart of hearts, without interference from societal norms, prefer to do. If you can do that honestly (perhaps thinking back to how you would have behaved as a young child) you may be surprised.
Admittedly, I left doing the various online tests until rather late in life; but I was still overwhelmed by the evidence I started to accumulate after doing the ASQ a few times. Each time I do the ASQ, I try to be just a little more critical of my own previous responses; but the result still doesn't seem to change very much. Three years after diagnosis, and four since self-identification, I'm still dredging up some highly-significant events in my life. I initially examined very early events in my life. And I'm still seeing further evidence from that time. AND at each time of my life since.
I also find much to agree with, with the other posters here. And yet I remain skeptical on a daily basis. The cycle of rejection and acceptance hasn't gone away just yet. But as someone else said around here recently, people rarely go looking for answers unless there are numerous questions on their mind. By the end of each day, I have always come around to the realisation that there is an issue that cannot be ignored. And acceptance is a positive force. But that doesn't stop you from continuing to examine whether you are on quite the right track. You can always modify your acceptance, as you go along, if different sorts of evidence eventually turn up. But there is usually no real need to do a complete U-turn.