Published on 12, July, 2020
I've finally got my report from my NHS assessment.
It's shorter than I expected. Just a 2 page letter.
However, it does contain my score which was 175 (above the diagnostic threshold of 65).
I found this site which explains the score and gives some averages (+ a link to take the test).
https://embrace-autism.com/raads-r/
So, I was a little above the average for an autistic female.
If anyone would like to share their scores, it would be interesting.
A quote below from my letter:
'completed the RAADS-R: the RITVO Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale –revised: this 80-item diagnostic interview consists of questions designed for individuals with averageIQ and above. This is a population with mild or subclinical ASD and these individuals often escapediagnosis. The RAADS-R was specifically designed to capture that population. Any score of 65 orabove indicates a high likelihood of Autism Spectrum Disorder, provided the clinical presentation isconvergent with this diagnosis'
No test is ideal, they all have problems with poorly worded questions and questions based on outdated stereotypes. However, the RAADS-R seems to be better than the AQ tests on simple metrics. If I remember correctly, in the original RAADS-R paper, they claim to have identified 97% of previously diagnosed autistics, with the threshold score of 65 (and over), and to have excluded all the non-autistic 'control' people in their experimental population (scoring 64 and under). This is quite useful.
I scored 167 on the RAADS-R test ---- 9 on AQ10 and 37 on AQ50.
The threshold sore of 65 is the result of their experimental data, not a claim that someone scoring 65 is automatically autistic, this is important to understand. What the test is claiming, is that people scoring less than 65 are probably not autistic and can be excluded, with some justification, from further diagnostic assessment.