AQ Quiz Accuracy

I'd like to know if I have autism or aspergers. I have a couple symptoms (tics and obsessions), but every test says I'm clear with a very wide margin. I've scored high (~150) for neurotypical, and (~50 iirc) for aspie on the big aspergers test. I've also taken lots of other tests online and all of them come back normal. Can I have these two symptoms without having aspergers; do obsessions and tics manifest because of any other mental illness?

I get tics but they aren't actually because of my autism. In my case it's just a response when I'm nervous or a little confused or tired, and I've seen plenty of NTs with similar. Obsessions though, depends on what you mean. There's the type of obsessions seen in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or there's the special interests that a lot of autists have. Having either doesn't necessarily mean that you have OCD, ASD, or both; but only by seeing a professional will you have an actual answer.
There's a lot more to autism than these two things which not all autists have, like the difficulties in social communication and lateral thinking.
Hope you have answers soon

Hope that makes even a little sense - I'm half asleep lol.

Which two big tests?

The long aspergers test. The one with the chart and like 120 questions

The Rdos test? Like I have stated before, it is not made by an expert in the field, he has no education in the matter, he is a layman. Also he is collecting racial information to "prove" that Africans cannot have aspergers (because they are "inferior"). It has become a "big" test just because it filled some kind of void. It shouldn't be taken seriously.

Leif Ekblad, right? Holy moly that is just awful....and it doesn't make any sense either.

Yes, him. To him it makes sense because Africans are not mixed with Neanderthals, and according to him it is Neanderthal genes that gives aspergers.

Somebody should go skew his statistics. From now on anyone who takes the test that knows they'll score high Aspie should indicate their race/ethnicity to be African. :P

Also female, because women don't get Asperger’s either; we're all either psychotic or have borderline personality disorder.

(Apologies to anyone who fits the description and is somehow offended by it.)

If the other test is the Baron-Cohen one, even though he is a professional, I do not like his tests. They are vague and gender slanted. If you are going to ask real aspies things you need aspie friendly questions.

"I usually notice car number plates or similar strings of information"

What IS similar to that? Here, car plates have letters and sometimes spell words, a lot of non aspies react to those too. As for only numeric number plates I can't come up with anything resembling that. I don't know what he asks, what the pattern is, is it solely a number thing? I hate numbers and I'm an aspie.

"Other people frequently tell me that what I’ve said is impolite, even though I think it is polite"

In this country and culture it would be mega rude to point out someone else's impoliteness...

"I am fascinated by dates"

Rainman warning....... I haven't met many aspies who are calendar freaks.

"I would rather go to a library than to a party"

Does that mean any quiet and somewhat solitary activity or does it HAVE to be the library??? (I don't understand always when I am supposed to generalize.)

"I find making up stories easy"

Gender bias. There are several aspie writers. Many of them female.

"I am fascinated by numbers"

Numbers again.... where is Rainman?

"I don’t particularly enjoy reading fiction"

No cuz all aspies only read non-fiction.... or come on!!! Some aspies read ALL the books of a certain author. Maybe females more than males.

"I would rather go to the theater than to a museum"

So, sit quietly not having to interact..... OR being in bright light bumping into people all the dang time? Oh yea, I forgot... all aspies love museums especially if they have dinos and the don't mind at all being in public, cuz they're too nerdy to care.

"It does not upset me if my daily routine is disturbed"

If he even starts with claiming you have a daily routine, you probably dislike it being disturbed whether you're an aspie or not. NT's love the surprise of running out of coffee in the morning or having to take a really long phone call so they miss their bus.

"I usually concentrate more on the whole picture, rather than on the small details"

Totally aspie friendly question... or not. I still haven't figured out what people call the whole picture and what they call a detail. Sorry but I didn't live a parallel life as an NT and learn this.

"I am not very good at remembering phone numbers"

Oh dear. More numbers. But I'm supposed to love those phone numbers. Even if I don't have anyone to call and therefore nothing to remember.

"I don’t usually notice small changes in a situation or a person’s appearance"

It's very aspie to do this. Because you might not have the instinct to take in all details just cuz it happens to be a human being, but the "correct" answer is that you notice. Cuz it is a detail and for some reason you notice a hair cut easier than if they cut down the trees outside your window. Or not.

"I like to collect information about categories of things (e.g., types of cars, birds, trains, plants)"

Yes, cuz we're lifeless androids. We "collect" it. We are emotionally distant from it. Or not! Also we wouldn't ever miss a train type ever, would we? (Oh sorry, was that sarcasm, forgot aspies don't do sarcasm.)

"I find myself drawn more strongly to people than to things."

What about animals? Especially female aspies can have a very deep bond with them.

Oops I took this apart more than I intended to. But sometimes experts should listen to real people. Seriously.

The RDOS has changed over the years. I did it last week and was surprised with the changes and quality. A lot of the questions seemed generic or broad, as if it was written up by a layperson.

I wouldn't use this test to self-diagnose. It doesn't consider developmental history at all which I have a problem with. Personality traits, and preferences are not enough for an ASD diagnosis.

Baron-Cohen's AQ is definitely gender biased. Since it also doesn't consider developmental history I wouldn't use it to self-diagnose.

I love reading fiction. Dates definitely don't fascinate me.

Does anyone know what ASD trait this question,"I am not very good at remembering phone numbers", is referring to?

I'm female too. I was misdiagnosed with BPD, before I found out I had ASD.

Lol I laughed at the sarcasm bit... I feel a bit stupid now because I actually didn't realize you were using sarcasm and I was getting so confused XD

I've taken that quiz many different ways to see how it scores. And if you remember phone numbers easily you are seen as more aspie.