Requesting a diagnosis when AQ-10 is negative

Hi there,

I've wondered about whether I might be autistic for a while but got put off by a child psychologist (who does ASD assessments!) who told me that I can't possibly be because previous psychotherapy had helped. Now someone I'm working with has suggested it to me again. It does feel like it fits, but when I do the standard AQ-10 screening tool I only get 5 (although I come out with at least 35 on the full AQ test). I can self-refer to my local NHS assessment service but I'm worried that if my AQ-10 is negative they won't give me a second glance. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks,

Liz

Parents

JohnS over 4 years ago

I guess that they might find that you are borderline??

I was diagnosed with ASC Level1 (Asperger's) in 2019 (at the age of 55) and I score 10 on the AQ10 test and 43 on the full AQ test.

A score of 5 on the AQ10 does sound low??

Reply

JohnS over 4 years ago

I guess that they might find that you are borderline??

I was diagnosed with ASC Level1 (Asperger's) in 2019 (at the age of 55) and I score 10 on the AQ10 test and 43 on the full AQ test.

A score of 5 on the AQ10 does sound low??

Children

WeaverBird over 4 years ago in reply to JohnS

They might, although GuyBrush’s point about it being possibly biased towards a typical male presentation is relevant. Given my historic interpersonal difficulties, I don’t know if my ability to e.g. infer intention in stories is a learned survival mechanism (which would be consistent with what I’ve read of the typical female autism phenotype). But I guess all I can do at this point is try and see where I get to. (And try to trust the process, eek.)