What questions would you set for an online Autism test?

First, I would give a lengthy reading list about autism featuring work by autistic authors. Next, an instruction for the person to assume for now they are autistic and arrange their life in such a way as to avoid sensory overstimulation, incorporate strong routines, and minimise uncertainty. I'd include instructions for friends, employers and family requesting they make accommodations to support the person's communication preferences for a certain period of time.

The assessment would be a single question: did those changes significantly improve your life?

Why can't the proper tests be as detailed and nuanced and excellent as yours & AA's?  

I get what you mean but it is an honest username, and that honesty is something to be admired.

I actually got really used to being called Simon.  

My number one question would be, 'Tell me about yourself'.  My reaction would be to tell them to F OFF and storm out.

Thanks for clarifying, because some people seem to think we are not interested in people! I am not sure how much pleasure others get from their interests, so it is hard to judge, also I tend to interact with other people who share my interests - some of those are just as obsessed as I am if not more! But some are not, so I would guess I do get more from them than average.

I read your post 'Steven in reply to Stephen' and become even more confused. I thought you were confused about the spelling of your own name 

Then I realised Stephen is actually a different person 

Never apologise for enthusiasm! Embrace autistic joy in all its beautiful forms! Embrace the stim.

Pikl said:

I communicate well with non verbal children, it's more of an intuitive understanding that I can't explain

That’s great! I understand what you mean about intuitive understanding, this is exactly how I felt when I supported autistic children at a play scheme, I felt a connection that was almost like magnetism. I bet the autistic children really value your level of understanding. 

Pikl said:

I love that we don't need to speak to communicate,  because words can lie and are often just noise.

Exactly, speech is overrated. I love the written word too.

Your research topic sounds really interesting, I am very interested in diversity of communication too. All the forms of communication you mention are freeing.

Congratulations on your Makaton achievement at work! You must be a source of Makaton wisdom! What is your favourite sign/phrase?

What’s your favourite Linkin Park song?

Sorry I shall clarify. I didn’t mean to suggest this:

AuTriker said:

This is ambiguous! Do you mean your interests are more interesting to you than they are to others, or do you mean are you more interested in them than you are in other people?!

I am very interested in other people and really like getting to know and spend time with others. I know many of us are very interested in other people, that’s why a common interest in our community is psychology.

Instead, what I mean is ‘do you gain more pleasure from your interests than other people do when they engage in their interests?’ Or a simpler question could be, ‘how does engaging in your interests make you feel?’

Is that clearer?

Thanks for the feedback.

AuTriker said:

I reckon I'd enjoy a diagnosis which asked those, although it might take all day... and there would be little doubt of said diagnosis!

Exactly, formal autistic identification should be a positive experience! 

For question 4 I would not take it either before or after the meal - the instructions say with so I would take it half way through the meal! After having clarified what constitutes a meal of course. And then I would worry about what would happen if my meal was at a significantly different time of day - should I take the medication at the same time of day with a snack, or with the meal even if it was 4 hours earlier or later than usual.

It's a very difficult thing, deciding on a name to represent your identity. I went with Pikl because it's a nickname I've been given, because I always seem to get myself in a pickle. Which although was meant to be endearing, I wonder now if it has some accidental negative connotations.

1. What happens physically when you fall in love with a person and haven't told them yet?

a) I get butterflies but I ide it really well.

b) I try hard to hide it but it's really obvious anyway - the butterflies flutter all over me rather than just staying inside my stomach.

c) I don't know/I've never been in love.

2. What happens emotionally when you're in love with someone?

a) I admire them, think about them a lot and want to be near them. 

b) I *feel* their strongest emotions. Almost everything seems to make me think of them. 

C) I don't know/I've never been in love. 

3. An object you've had for a while and become attached to breaks or gets lost. Do you:

a) Feel sad, but replace the object with a similar or apparently identical one.

b) Feel almost devastated, and refuse to replace the object because *nothing* will ever be identical or able to replace it.

c) I don't get attached to objects.

4. You have some medicine to take, and the instructions state it should be taken 'with a meal.' Do you: 

a) Automatically take before lunch/dinner. 

b) Look up the dictionary definition of 'meal' to see if your breakfast or evening snack counts.

c) Forget to take it. 

d) Ignore the instructions. 

5. Does discomfort or joy from particular sensory inputs have a significant impact on your life?

a) Yes. 

b) No.

c) How significant is 'significant?'   

This is the undoubtedly bonkers but boring story of how I eventually stopped being Simon and started becoming Steven...er...Stephen. My reason for adopting an alias was to me a truly serious and considered one but unfortunately I'm a stooopid gonk, as you will see:

My real name is Steven. I've used 'Simon' as a username because I've always liked the name and because it was slightly similar to my real one, thus making it easy to remember for me, a person who often manages to forget his own birthday. Much more importantly than all this, I went incognito because I was worried after reading about the controversial views of some leading researchers regarding autistic people. These views seemed debatable, to say the least. So I fretted for hours about being easily identifiable to those researchers, worrying about being personally targeted by them and so being a possible subject of future research or enquiry. I subsequently lived amongst chameIeons for weeks and studied their cryptic behaviour until I was ready to slip, shadow-like, onto the board undetected. So I finally went ahead and joined the forum because by then *I knew that my brilliant disguise would never be discovered*...

Within seconds of joining the forum, my brilliant disguise had been discovered. It was blown away by gales of laughter that left me looking like a nudist in a wind tunnel with his name tattooed on his forehead, as I discussed my highly serious identity concerns with RT ('Rainbow-Tree') and she laughed at my world-class camouflage because I'd already given my real and full name, twice, when signing-up and also joining the NAS. What a twit! She laughed even more as she told me I'd unwittingly chosen the same first name as the most famous researcher of all. Poop.  :(

*world population facepalms*

Since my 'brilliant disguise' was torn apart faster than pvc rugby shorts were by teeth on Sparkly's hen night, I've been tempted to change my username but thought this might confuse forum members, and also me; I'd almost forgotten my real name and was enjoying being someone who wasn't as rubbish as that Steven bloke with his portable shower curtain stooopid disguise. Having procrastinated about sending a Friend Request to myself, I then pondered for centuries over making a decision about the new name-change. And so empires rose and fell as icecaps slowly melted until a friend gently saved me from myself by suggesting that I cease acting like a homemade Hamlet and 'stop twittering on about it, FFS, and just MAKE A BLOODY DECISION. Jesus Harold Christ in an Asda trolley, gimme strength...'

THE END (of my sanity)

----------------------------

Feel free to laugh, to cry, or to shoot me. Or all three at once.

Oh yeah... is that an autistic thing? I am the person that will tick in between boxes sometimes and write explanatory notes etc. I get quite frustrated at questionnaires sometimes as none of options fit or just by the way they are designed. I approve of your questionnaire design- i feel like there should at least be a place for people to explain or give opinion... surely that would give useful feedback about the design of questionnaire... i understand that for some things they want something that can be easily scored but that can easily be complemented 

That's lovely.  

You made me laugh :) which is not easy at present thanks!!

No need to apologise!

I replied with a quote but it ended up in the wrong place, sorry!

Ausomely Autistic said:

Are you interests more meaningful to you than other people?

This is ambiguous! Do you mean your interests are more interesting to you than they are to others, or do you mean are you more interested in them than you are in other people?!

Great questions though, I reckon I'd enjoy a diagnosis which asked those, although it might take all day... and there would be little doubt of said diagnosis!

I would set some random and possibly annoying multiple choice questions, but which had an option to write something either in explanation of the choice, to say none of the choices really fit, or to complain about how annoying the questions were. The answers themselves would not be diagnostic, but if anyone just ticked the options without writing anything they would probably be NT and if anyone chose the option of writing they they would most likely be autistic!