- Hi everyone, welcome back to Asperger from the Inside.
You're here this Paul, for this month's
Patron's choice video.
Actually, this month, I'm gonna do the video
over three parts, 'cause it's such an amazing topic.
So, the first part is essentially
everything you need to know about the AQ test.
The Autism Quotient test that you can do online.
So, this was a big part of my journey,
my personal journey, as I know it has been for many others.
The first time you think, oh, maybe I might be a spectrum,
you start taking it seriously.
I quick Google search will come up
with this 10-minute test and a few minutes later,
you've got a score out of 50 that gives you a sense
of whether you might be on the spectrum or not.
So, this video, we'll go through why was the test created?
What the test actually is, how the test works,
what do the results mean and not mean?
Is the test appropriate for women?
There's a difference between the results for men and women.
And finally, a summary of what it's good for
and how to use it, especially for those of you
wondering whether you're on the spectrum or not.
So, if you're after more information,
you can take a look in the video description.
And I've got a whole bunch of references and links
for more information including the original research paper
that are published in the journal of autism
and developmental disorders in 2001.
So that's where this originally came from.
Okay, so to start off, if I had to explain the AQ test
in my 10 seconds, I'd basically say
it's a really great, quick way of assessing
the likelihood of if you're in the spectrum or not.
And so, that means that for many of us,
it's a good first step towards diagnosis.
But of course, it's only a first step,
I mean, it's a 10-minute online quiz, what did you expect?
So, in this video, we'll go through some of the limitations
of some things to watch out for,
especially what this test does not mean,
the results of this test.
So, a bit of background, why was this test created?
According to its own paper, this test was
the first brief, self-administered instrument
for measuring the degree to which an adult
with normal intelligence have the traits
associated with the autism spectrum.
So, it was developed in 2001 by Sacha Baron Cohen's
cousin, Simon, a British clinical psychologist.
Who has done a lot of work in autism research.
So even today, his work is undeniably
influential and controversial.
It's probably worth mentioning that 2001
was a long time ago.
Especially in the autism world.
And so, sometimes, reading research
and recommendations and what we thought
we knew about autism then, it feels like
reading something that missed
and might've said in the middle ages or something.
So it's a long time ago, we've learned a lot since then.
But this test, is still used to this day.
And you can still find it online.
So, another interesting aspect of why this test was created,
was to explore the link between autistic traits
and scientific talent.
Hans Asperger is famous for saying that
"It seems that for success in science or art,
a dash of autism is essential."
So interestingly, part of this test was to see
if the autistic traits are more common
in maths and science.
Okay, so, I've got a whole bunch of resources
that you can look up as well if you're looking
to either do the test or read the original paper,
or listen to a video that Dr. Baron Cohen
has put together around the motivations
for creating the test in the first place.
Okay, what is the test?
The AQ test is comprised of 50 questions,
designed to assess five different areas.
Social skill, attention switching, attention to detail,
communication and imagination.
So, basically, you answer each one of these 50 questions
along a four-point scale from definitely agree,
agree, disagree, definitely disagree.
And then at the end, you run your answers
through a scoring sheet and you will get
your Autism Quotient score, somewhere between one and 50.
So, the higher the score, the more autistic traits
you have and the higher your likelihood
of being on the autism spectrum.
So, in terms of how the test works and how accurate it is,
my biggest advise is do not overthink this.
Go online, look at the questions, go through them
reasonably quickly, don't think too hard.
Especially try and avoid trying to think,
I know what this questions is asked,
it is trying to get at.
And trying to agonize over the answers
or tying to interpret the hidden meaning
of what the question is really trying to get at,
is not gonna help you at all.
Just answer the first thing that comes to mind
and you'll get a good indication as the test was intended.
It's not that accurate to begin with.
So, your score will be an indication at best,
of whether you're likely or unlikely
to be on the autism spectrum.
So once you have your score, you'll have a score
from somewhere between one and,
well, somewhere between zero and 50, actually.
11 to 21 is the average for most of the population.
22 to 25 indicates that you have a higher than average
number of autistic traits.
Above 25, so 26 to 31, they call it a borderline score.
And I've got 86% of people with this score
will be correctly classified as having Asperger's.
And the cut off that the paper itself identified is 32.
So the reason that they chose the cut off of 32
is because 80% of the adults with Asperger's
or what they call high functioning autism scored above 32.
So, 80% of the autistic people scored above 32
whereas only 2% of the neurotypical control group
scored above 32.
So this means that if you scored over 32,
you are either in a 80%, pretty likely,
that you're on the spectrum.
Or the 2% of people who are not on the spectrum
and still scored above that score.
So, I just wanna mention here
that this also means that 20% or one in five people
who scored below this cut off,
are still on the spectrum.
So if you had a room full of 10 people on this spectrum,
at least about two of them would score under 32.
So, what does this actually tell us?
It tells us that this test is much better
at telling you you are autistic
than it is at ruling out if you're not autistic.
So, let's take another look at another example.
Anyone who's, if you scored 38 or above,
43% of autistics scored above 38.
However, none of the 174 neurotypical
participants scored above 38.
So, if you're getting a score in the 40s,
especially in the high 40s, you can be pretty confident
that it's worth looking into.
Are you on the spectrum or not.
However, if you get a low score,
I think when I did this, I got an ambiguous score,
something like 30 or something.
It must've been less than 32 but only slightly less.
And I remember thinking well, that's a bit useless.
Official internet diagnosis probably,
that's not very helpful.
So, yeah, this test is much better at giving you
a strong indication that you are on the spectrum
if you score highly, than it is of ruling it out
if you score somewhere in the middle.
So another big question is this AQ test
appropriate for women?
It's well-known that many more men are diagnosed
with autism than women.
And actually, they did look at that.
They had a male control group and a female control group.
And what they found is that actually, yes,
men tended to score higher on the AQ test
indicating more autistic traits,
more of these measurable autistic traits
than the female group.
So it makes sense that if you're autistic and female,
you are likely to score lower than
an equivalent male doing this test.
However, the difference is not huge.
Which means that the test is still applicable for women
and especially if we think about how accurate
this test is in general.
I mean, the result you're gonna get is either
highly likely, a little bit likely or not very likely.
So, that means that if you're a woman doing this test,
you're probably gonna get as useful answer
as a man doing this test.
And your guess is as good as mine as to where
someone of non-binary gender,
which is statistically relatively common
in the autistic population.
How that would affect the results.
But in general, there are some gender differences
but not huge gender differences.
Okay, with all of that information, what conclusions
can we come to about the usefulness of this test?
Essentially, the test is really useful,
it's a really good starting point for a conversation
with a doctor, especially if you've scored highly.
But it's not a diagnosis, it was never intended
to be a diagnosis, they were hoping
to be able to use it as a very very quick screening tool,
which, in my opinion, it's pretty good for that.
We also found out that the test is much better
in giving you confidence that you are on the spectrum
rather than giving your confidence
that you're not on the spectrum.
So what that means is if you scored very highly
in this test, I would strongly suggest
that you consider the possibility
that you are on the spectrum.
And look in to the matter further,
whether that's an official diagnosis or not, it's up to you,
I've actually got a video on the pros and cons
on official diagnosis versus self-diagnosis.
But I would encourage you to continue that journey
and at least, to find an answer for you.
Similarly, incredibly low scores.
I actually had a friend of mind take this test
and scored one out of 50.
It's pretty clear that she's not on the spectrum.
If you're scoring less than about 20,
you can be reasonably confident
that you're unlikely to be on the spectrum.
However, a score between 20 and 30
really doesn't tell you very much at all.
So it was worth your time to find out
and I would encourage you, if you think
you're on the spectrum, then keep going
until you find an answer that's satisfying to you
as to whether you are or not.
Sometimes, you go to a professional
and they give you an answer and if feels like it resonates
and sometimes, you go to a professional
and you feel like they've just dismissed you
and haven't taken you seriously.
In that case, you're gonna wanna seek another opinion
or at least keep going until you find
an answer you're happy with.
So, anyway, I'll talk a lot more about that next week
in the second part of this Patron's choice video.
Are you undiagnosed autistic?
How to tell if you're on the autism spectrum.
So, until then, take care, thanks for watching.
Consider supporting this channel on Patreon.
And I'll see you again next time.
Okay, bye.