online autism tests drive me crazy.

Hey all, Dylan here (can’t seem to change name on profile)

Does anyone else find the online autism tests infuriating?

I haven’t been diagnosed as autistic, but think there’s a chance I am and trying to get an assessment. The problem is I keep doubting myself and think I’m just imagining things, even though I was right about being ADHD and OCD, though I was stunned when I got the dyslexia diagnosis.

One problem is the online autism screening test. I find them frustrating and feel the questions and options for answers don’t allow me to express my experience. 

There’s one in particular, the Autism Spectrum quotidian (AQ) that drives me crazy. It’s the one I get guided to a lot and told it’s a good basic screener. The trouble is I find the questions frustrating and are impossible to answer in the format provided. Nearly every question is dependent on how I’m feeling that day and the answers don’t reflect the complexity.

For example, the first question is ‘I prefer to do things with others rather than on my own.’ I don’t feel I can answer that int he agree/disagree model. It depended on the activity ad how I’m feeling. I generally prefer to do things on my own, but there are some things I’m Ok with doing with others. I went to the ballet this evening on my own, which was great, but I’m fine going with people too. If I’m going for a meal then being with people is enjoyable, but I’m fine eating alone too and sometimes prefer it. Also, my ADHD masks a lot of the anxiety I feel being with other people, so it isn’t a straight forward question.

The question I find the most frustrating is if if a prefer going to a library than a party. It completely depends. I love to read and write, the things you’d do at a library, but I don’t like libraries because I have to sit still and don’t feel comfortable sitting at tables for long periods of time, and instead I read at home. As for parties, I’m OK going for a little while, but it doesn’t take long before I want to be on my own again, and it can be exhausting to be social. So I don’t really like either much, but prefer one over the other if I’m in a certain mood, but there’s no answer that reflects this and I can’t give an accurate answer. I could name almost any question that this applies to, and feel if there was more nuance it’d be easier to answer. As a result I get a score that says I’m unlikely to be autistic when I don’t feel it’s an accurate reflection of my experience. Or sometimes tests say I’m likely autistic because the questions were different. So which is it?

I really don’t know how to get a handle on my feelings on the chance I’m autistic, and these screeners don’t help. Does anyone else feel this way or have advice? Is there an online test that is a bit clearer?

thanks