A friend whose grandson is autistic tells me that this 50-question assessment devised by Cambridge University is considered by those in the autism community to be a pretty accurate assessment of where one falls on the autism spectrum. It'll take you only a few minutes to complete it, but the results might startle you. It certainly did startle several readers in a thread below, which is why I'm giving it its own entry.
Most adult males score at or around 17 (out of 50); most adult females score at or around 15. A score of 35 or thereabouts is associated with Asperger's Syndrome, the mildest form of autism. The lower your score, the more empathetic you are (this is not a moral judgment, but one that describes the way you interact with the world and process experience emotionally and psychologically).
I know someone who took it and got a 38; this guy I'd already figured was at least borderline Asperger's. He's pretty communicative, and fairly brilliant, but he's not terribly interested in what others have to say. As long as I've known him, I've been surprised at his lack of empathy for others. Seeing his result from the quiz made me actually more sympathetic to the guy. I'd thought he was kind of a jerk, actually, but now I think the poor fellow suffers from a mild form of autism, and simply doesn't understand how he comes across to others. It was a reminder of me to be careful about judging others, because I had a harsher opinion of this guy until it was revealed through this quiz that he might be struggling with something he's not even aware of.
Anyway, I got a 9 on the quiz. Mr. Empath, that's me. Heh. INFP on the Myers-Briggs, too. FWIW.
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I got a 40... guess that explains my fascination with dates and math as well as my social awakwardness and inabillity to make eye contact... kinda pissed my parrents missed this...
By the way, the AQ Test is not an autism test, it is a personality test that measures where someone fits on a Bell Curve of normal variants of human personality types from reserved to outgoing..
Autism is a developmental disorder caused by a disruption in early brain development, it is not a psychopathological personality disorder as the test implies.
The idea has been promulgated by polygenic theorists who have redefined the nature of autism, beginning with the publication of the new diagnostic criteria introduced in 1987. The new criteria is so vague, ambigous and subjective that this new conceptualization of what autism is enough to explain the so-called ‘autism epidemic’.
"Mild autism" does not exist!
Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder caused by a disruption in early brain development. That is about the only fact that there is universal agreement on. Theorists like Baron-Cohen are responsible for the autism epidemic because they have redefined the nature of autism from what it is, a disruption in early brain development to what it is not, a personality disorder.
I tend to agree with the commenters here. I think this is a personality test more than a diagnostics test for autism. While I scored a 38 I don't lack for empathy at all.
I feel my score in fact is the collision between my natural gregariousness and empathy and the cold, indifferent, and predatory nature of industrial culture. My reaction to such pervasive treatment is natually to withdraw in order to protect myself from such attitudes.
In fact, I would think someone who was gregarious in a culture such as this must be oblivious to the social cues they are receiving and might more likely be lacking empathy than an extremely reserved person. I think our instincts have yet to catch up with what industrialization has wrought. Witness Ted Bundy and other such serial menaces.
I am certainly not indifferent to the fate of others nor do I wish to go on a witch hunt to find what faults I can in others as it seems most people are today; their claims to the contrary not withstanding.
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