Are you on the Autism Spectrum?

[goDel]

I'm actually surprised it doesn't even matter if you slightly or definitely agree. WTF? This has probably to do with the acceptance for the test (people not accepting only a black/white test and feeling more secure when they don't have to answer in extremes).

[Hoodie]

itt: people ignoring that the "shit test" successfully distinguishes people with autism and people without autism in most cases in the studies that use it.

 

the test is obviously not "shit." it's measuring something and that something appears to be highly correlated with autism. now, i don't totally understand the implementation of these questions because i haven't learned enough about designing psychological inventories and such to be able to comment on it, but i have some confidence in the design decisions of a researcher who has been studying autism for two decades.

[eugene]

I'd love to answer your questions, but at this point I'll be running in circles.

 

Why? Because of research, research, research.

 

....

Research

 

...

And as a consequence, an implied "because by the current definition, people scoring high on the AS generally don't give answers like in your example. And one might even argue, those aren't typical mistakes for people scoring high in the AS." And here you get to a point where everything may implode on itself. (What is AS? Is the researched AS the actual AS? Why? Why? Why?... to infinity and beyond)

yeah i wasn't that absolute, i just think that the definitions that we have in mind regarding autism are very simplistic, so it just seems very counter-intuitive.

 

could be that the test was built from the ground up to see what answers do properly diagnosed autistic persons tend to give to an array of similar questions, i just can't be arsed to go deep into this.

Edited January 27, 2013 by eugene

[luke viia]

itt: people ignoring that the "shit test" successfully distinguishes people with autism and people without autism in most cases in the studies that use it.

 

the test is obviously not "shit." it's measuring something and that something appears to be highly correlated with autism. now, i don't totally understand the implementation of these questions because i haven't learned enough about designing psychological inventories and such to be able to comment on it, but i have some confidence in the design decisions of a researcher who has been studying autism for two decades.

 

The reason I called it shit is because of what goDel said in the post directly above yours. My musings on whether to choose "slightly" or "fully" in either a positive or negative light do nothing to reflect my result. The calculation they use (as seen in the key) is too simple for any sort of worthwhile self-diagnosis. I do agree that a really high score means you're probably autistic, but a pass/fail test is still, IMO, a "shit" test, in that it doesn't distinguish any further than "yep you pass/no you fail" -- the 'spectrum' part is what is lacking IMO, so three of our four categories in this thread are probably largely meaningless and just depend on introversion/extroversion, or a whole host of other factors.

 

and ftr, I'm the only one that called this test shit, haha.

 

ps - I'm really hard on surveys. They're routinely given far more credit than they deserve, and people (scientists!) make real world decisions based on their misunderstandings of alternate interpretations of the results. It drives me bananas.

Edited January 28, 2013 by luke viia

[Guest Franklin]

I scored a 25. I never thought of myself as one who would score at all on a aspergers/autism test but I guess it makes sense with regard to my preference for structure/order/planning/little social interaction/stability (no change). I'm great at social interaction I just would prefer to be alone. It's bizarre to me that ppl like to hang out with others.

 

*pulls out old simon baron-cohen books*

[Goiter Sanchez]

Are you serious? People in general are bad multitaskers. No matter what they think of themselves.

 

(This is why the whole autism thing is so full of shit, imo. When having a good memory and being able to focus on one activity for a longer period of time can become "potential indicators of autism", something's very wrong. Perhaps it's society inability to teach younger generations what social behavior is? Or the amount if chemical crap that's been stuffed in our food?)

I wasn't making the case that I AM autistic because I have a good memory. Zephyr was just saying that he thought I may be based upon my memory and I went on to state that the two things can be mutually exclusive. I am not purporting to be Autistic and I don't necessarily subscribe to the idea of a 'spectrum disorder' since it is a vague definition to begin with.

The only reason I mentioned my long attention span is because it is something that I have been led to believe that many people do not posess (though I should add that it is highly selective in my case).

[Goiter Sanchez]

Empathy Quotient: 33

Systemizing Quotient: 55

[Friendly Foil]

26 in the empathy quiz. Dayum, is this really bad, or?

[Friendly Foil]

33 in the systemizing one.

[LimpyLoo]

*scared to take this*

[Person90]

26

 

Never really knew much about autism. I do have a fascination with dates and their relationship to specific memories, or events. Its a way to "lock" in the memories of my life. I hate when I can't recall the exact time something happened. Feels like a part of me is lost.

 

I like to distinguish different things into categories as well. Its a nice feeling when I can relate one thing to another in my head. I guess its like a new way to look at something, so by proxy, a new way to look at my world.

[soundwave]

25 = average geek but no nerd

Edited January 28, 2013 by soundwave

[Guest isaki]

47 for empathy one, average for a woman.. which is funny to me

[Zephyr_Nova]

 

Are you serious? People in general are bad multitaskers. No matter what they think of themselves...

Zephyr was just saying that he thought I may be based upon my memory and I went on to state that the two things can be mutually exclusive.

More specifically, your rather precocious interest and subsequent crazy knowledge in two specific areas (plants and insects) that are unusual subjects for people to obsess over at a very early age, combined with many of your more unusual social mannerisms and speech patterns. While I've never outright thought you were autistic, you'd probably make the most convincing autist of anyone I know. Next to that weird amphibian guy form 5th street... but you totally out-autisted him on that rare beetle(?) species.

[Goiter Sanchez]

 

 

Are you serious? People in general are bad multitaskers. No matter what they think of themselves...

Zephyr was just saying that he thought I may be based upon my memory and I went on to state that the two things can be mutually exclusive.

More specifically, your rather precocious interest and subsequent crazy knowledge in two specific areas (plants and insects) that are unusual subjects for people to obsess over at a very early age, combined with many of your more unusual social mannerisms and speech patterns. While I've never outright thought you were autistic, you'd probably make the most convincing autist of anyone I know. Next to that weird amphibian guy form 5th street... but you totally out-autisted him on that rare beetle(?) species.

Hah, I remember that guy. He said he had bred a unique species of grasshopper/cricket hybrid and showed me the carcass. I identified it as an Eastern Lubber Grasshopper (Romalea guttata) which is a species I'd been familiar with for years beforehand; very distinct coloration and very large. It was a weird moment as I recall; he had to redact his story and reveal that he ordered, as opposed to having bred, the thing not really knowing what it was. Interestingly that night was also my first time trying ecstasy.

[mcbpete]

I was always rocking the autism Vic 20, not so much on the autism Spectrum. Only scored 31 on the autism Spectrum.

 

Nice - Well I thought it was funny anyway !

[Silent Member]

It was. Is that a make your own bomb / my little jihad kit to the left?

Edited January 28, 2013 by Gocab

[sweepstakes]

35 AQ

22 E

37 S

It's like I've only got the bad and not much of the good.

[coax]

What the fuck, 31. I didn't think it was that 'bad'. I was thinking I would end up somewhere in the middle when I was selecting choices.

[sergeantk]

35 on the empathy test. Way lower than i expected

[Guest Iain C]

41 on the EQ, super average.

[SCONES TO DIE FOR]

26

 

Never really knew much about autism. I do have a fascination with dates and their relationship to specific memories, or events. Its a way to "lock" in the memories of my life. I hate when I can't recall the exact time something happened. Feels like a part of me is lost.

 

I like to distinguish different things into categories as well. Its a nice feeling when I can relate one thing to another in my head. I guess its like a new way to look at something, so by proxy, a new way to look at my world.

 

I feel the exact same way on both accounts, and I scored a 26 too. I'm seeing a connection here.

 

Remember this date - the day 26s became a category unto themselves.

[Guest EleminoP]

Autism spectrum: 31

Empathy: 22

Systemizing: 38

 

Was very surprised with the empathy one.

[Guest]

empathy - 57

systemizing - 52

 

lol

interesting.

[rixxx]

so I did those other tests......

 

 

EQ:25

 

SQ:44

 

 

I'm giving up now, I'm not autistic......................................mm..........................