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AQ10 vs AQ

firedragon

I have been diagnosed so this is out of curiosity.

I scored 39 on the AQ test and 6.0 on the AQ10. The doctor gave me the AQ test so further diagnosis was quite straight forward but following the AQ10 means I was just on the boundary. Looking at the AQ10 questions I suspect I could easily have scored lower.

The choice of AQ10 seems a bit odd to me. I have quite a good imagination and like fantasy and such. I quite like the theatre but being around people is different. Is it really assumed autism tendencies mean less imagination?

So I am wondering... Are these AQ tests really relevant or just a quick and not very sophisticated way to find a way into further investigation.

I did feel bias towards types of behaviour that more recent studies say are not necessarily true in the questions.

Parents

  • Yes, the questions are misleading, ambiguous, and vague. I don't think I cut up worms as a child, but I did tread on ants and wood-lice, but only just, so that they were half alive and half dead. I found this phenomenon fascinating, and did not have the empathy to stop and think about the ant's suffering. Would this mean I should  answer with a 'yes' to the question? I put 'no' when I did the test because I did  not specifically cut up worms. But neurotypical kids also sometimes do horrid things to animals, so this in itself does not point to autism.

    The question about attending the theatre versus a museum or library is also misleading. What if a person with AS has a theatre obsession? They might love the theatre, but not for the same reasons that a neurotypical person would come up with. Many of the questions are stereotyped, and these tests can therefore never be accurate. My worry is that people who score low on these tests, particularly women, might conclude that they should not get assessed, while it is possible for someone to score high on the tests and not in fact have autism. The tests are not used for diagnosis, and quite rightly so, but caution should be used when interpreting the results for screening purposes.

Reply

  • Yes, the questions are misleading, ambiguous, and vague. I don't think I cut up worms as a child, but I did tread on ants and wood-lice, but only just, so that they were half alive and half dead. I found this phenomenon fascinating, and did not have the empathy to stop and think about the ant's suffering. Would this mean I should  answer with a 'yes' to the question? I put 'no' when I did the test because I did  not specifically cut up worms. But neurotypical kids also sometimes do horrid things to animals, so this in itself does not point to autism.

    The question about attending the theatre versus a museum or library is also misleading. What if a person with AS has a theatre obsession? They might love the theatre, but not for the same reasons that a neurotypical person would come up with. Many of the questions are stereotyped, and these tests can therefore never be accurate. My worry is that people who score low on these tests, particularly women, might conclude that they should not get assessed, while it is possible for someone to score high on the tests and not in fact have autism. The tests are not used for diagnosis, and quite rightly so, but caution should be used when interpreting the results for screening purposes.

Children
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