Post by @astronomerritt@hachyderm.io

RE: https://mastodon.monoceros.co.za/@uastronomer/117127122289458031

I did the Autism Quotient test online and got 12: lower than the neurotypical average.

I got my partner to do it too. They spent ages complaining (correctly, I must add) about how badly-worded and vague the questions were, to the point they had to get me to explain the intention behind a few of them, and then they were genuinely shocked that they scored a 36.

Allen but one of the good ones

@uastronomer@mastodon.monoceros.co.za 11 hr. ago

Somebody in my timeline describing Autism Tests as being full of badly worded questions, and they're *this* close to figuring out what they're actually testing for 😂

3 Replies

2 Boosts

Steph (they/them)

@astronomerritt@hachyderm.io 11 hr. ago

The AQ test is notoriously difficult for actual autistic people to complete, and it does feel deliberate, as if struggling with the premise of the questions should give you an extra five points, but I suspect it’s just incompetently designed.

I do find it useful to whip out my own score when people online inevitably hit me with the “are you SURE you’re not autistic” line, though.

Steph (they/them)

@astronomerritt@hachyderm.io 11 hr. ago

The thing about having ADHD but not autism is that I find other people easy to read, but that isn’t actually going to STOP me from saying the weird thing that is about to come out of my mouth even though I KNOW they will think it’s weird. And then I get to watch them react in real-time and I have to frantically perform damage control!

Steph (they/them)

@astronomerritt@hachyderm.io 11 hr. ago

This is why I like autistic folk. They don’t care if I’m being weird as long as I’m not being a dick.