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What does an AQ sore of 23 in an adult mean?

Nessie

Hi everyone. I'm new here, and I'm the wife of a person (they/them) who has been referred by a psychiatrist to take an autism test. They went into the appointment thinking they might have an anxiety disorder, so walking out of the appointment with a reference for an autism test was quite distressing for them. They have now taken the test and scored a 23, which I have heard is below average for an autism diagnosis but is still above average for men. They have over two weeks until the follow up appointment with the psychiatrist, so I was wondering if anyone here might be able to please help me understand what the 23 might actually mean for them? Whilst the referral to take the test was a complete surprise to them, having been with them for four years, it didn't actually surprise me, but since they only scored 23, I'm now second guessing what I thought I had perceived. Any advice/thoughts would be very much appreciated :) 

  • in reply to Martin

    195, was the score I got on that and 119 on the CAT-Q and I think the cut off is 100

  • in reply to Golf23

    The cut off is 65 and the mean score for diagnosed autists is 131, I got 167. It would seem that I'm fairly well into the autistic region of the test (I have been clinically diagnosed).

  • in reply to Martin

    I did that and got well above the cut off.

    I also got over the cut off on the CAT-Q

  • All such tests are merely indicators, they are not diagnostic by themselves. The RAADS-R test - available to complete online - has some advantages over the AQ tests in that it claims a more definite cut off between autistic and non-autistic people. Might be worth your marriage partner taking it. Also, being diagnosed autistic is not the end of the world, as anyone so diagnosed has been autistic all their life anyway. It merely gives access to greater self-knowledge. 

  • 23 means you're a lot more nice than regular man

  • in reply to Golf23

    I’d say that a score of 41 warrants further investigation. My score is usually 46-47.

  • in reply to GuybrushThreepwood

    Yes, I had pronounced social traits as a kid that I later compensated for, but the sensory, repetitive ones... minor as a kid but oh boy! Ever explodding now... phew!

  • in reply to Dawn

    Yeah I agree with this, I feel NT compared to the majority  of ND people I come across but I definitely feel ND compared to the general population. Always had a borderline AQ score although it seems to be creeping up with age

  • Funnily enough a mate of mine took the AQ50 at the weekend and got 22. It's on the cusp a score like that. Let them do the assessment. Maybe they are on the spectrum, maybe not. But in understanding where the criteria are and are not met may lie the answer to the anxiety.

    Personally, I think some folk are near the boarder of diagnosis but not quite...and may be between two worlds. NT in some respects, needing a bit respect as neurodivergent in others. 

  • in reply to SpaceOctopus

    Sorry, I should clarify that the cut off point (thanks to Kitsune for mentioning this) for the AQ-50 is in fact 32 - that is to say, approximately 80% of people who score 32 and above are autistic. Scores of around 26 indicate that you have enough autistic characteristics to warrant further assessment. 

  • Scored 41 on the last AQ50 I did, should probably try to get an official diagnosis, but I don't like going to the GP, or speaking to people I don't know.  Unless it's anon and can't be attributed to myself 

  • Hi! The cut off on the AQ50 is 32, a person who scores above 32 is showing significant autism traits according to the AQ50. This questionnaire is sometimes used as a screening tool, for a clinician to decide if someone should be referred on for a full autism assessment. However, someone who scored below the cut off may still be referred for a full assessment, if autism symptoms can be evidenced by other means. Hope this helps. 

  • 23 means it’s likely they aren’t Autistic.

    If they were showing signs etc during their appointment, this is the reason that they were offered to take the test.

    The next appointment might be to discuss next steps, and to discuss the score and it’s unlikelihood that the person is Autistic.

  • Hi Nessie.

    I'm guessing that they took the Autism Quotient 50-Item Scale (AQ50). Supposing that this is the case then 23 is slightly below the threshold score of 26 which indicates that you 'might be autistic'. All that the score of 23 means is that they are nearing the threshold for autistic characteristics but are currently at what is called a 'subclinical level'.

    Without the jargon 'subclinical' just means that the person has autistic traits but may not be clinically diagnosed; clinical diagnosis actually requires that these autistic traits are having a negative effect on the person's life (I find this problematic personally but I won't elaborate now). I would definitely second what Cullpepper said - this is not an exact science. 

    From this point, if your spouse is interested in finding out more then I would direct them toward some of the tests suggested on the Embrace Autism site (https://embrace-autism.com/autism-tests/). Even though it's long (240 questions), the Aspie Quiz could give them a detailed view about their autistic traits. 

    - Sp. Oc.

  • Hi Nessie,

    It's nor an exact sciene, that's why it's so hard to say who is on the spectrum, and who is not.

    But if you say the range goes from 0--50 the thtrehold is 26, so you're quite there

    The average for non autistic men ia  17 , and the average for non autistic women 15

    So you're over that. You  can test yourself free online, so you could do another 2/3 tests and compare results.