A reader Triin whose blog on Asperger's is located here has been kind enough to leave a link to the Aspie quiz which is a lot better than the short and unreliable Baron-Cohen test. It takes into account the neurology of Asperger's without getting too hung up on the qualities that are often attributed to Asperger's out of simple lack of knowledge about it.
I score 179 out 200, which is really not surprising to me.
30 comments:
118... And the weirdest thing - I caught myself being a bit disappointed for not having more... Apparently, I perceive having Asperger's a good thing... :)
Ya know how you always feel like maybe you're perceived as kind of odd, but are never sure why, since your behavior seems normal to you? I think I finally figured it out! Thanks for the link.
It put me stronly in the aspie side, which is pretty usual for such tests. However, it's not really considerate of trans people or LGB people, You have to pick a binary 'Biological gender'. The test also presumes sexual attraction to the opposite sex and inquires as to whether your sexual desires are 'unusual'. Not precisely queer friendly.
True, I answered "unusual", meaning, not heterosexual, and left the "attraction to opposite sex" out as not applicable.
I would say that I probably was more aspie as a child but trained myself to communicate somewhat better.
That's what was meant by "unusual sexual desires"?? It never occurred to me. I had no idea what to answer to this question because it depends on what kind of norm the creators of the quiz set for themselves.
V.: I think 118 is quite high, so you can be part of the club if you want. :-)
Thank you, Clarissa. :)
Concerning the "unusual preferences" - I am not sure they were interested in "objective" answer, maybe they were interested if the person believes his/her preferences are unusual.
Also, I do not think they meant homosexuality. As a heterosexual, I did not pay much attention to the exact wording of those particular questions, but I guess the correction for different sexual orientation can be taken relatively easily.
Taking into account the propensity of Aspergers to focus intensively on sometimes unusual things, I'd rather believe they meant something like fetishism. Or, combining it with their questions about pain - S&M...
Clarissa,
The sexual desires question isn't about how other people would perceive you but how you perceive yourself.
As such, if one were homosexual but thought it was "unusual", then you'd answer "yes". If you figured that it wasn't very unusual, you'd answer "no".
I took the test. 121. Part of me has always wondered if I might have Asperger's because I have always exhibited a lot of the symptoms (characteristics? Is "symptom" a bad word choice?)...but empathy has always come very naturally to me so I've always dismissed the possibility pretty quickly. Hmmmm.
Gavin Bollard: do you happen to know why the queston is even there? How is any answer to it indicative of Asperger's?
Melissa: Asperger's and empathy are absolutely not mutually exclusive. While the places one addresses empathy and the way one manifests it might be a little unusual (or not), it is really not a necessary and central characteristic of Asperger's.
The conditon where people completely lack empathy is called sociopathy and that's very different from autism.
As one Aspie said: "We don't lack feelings. In fact, we are a filled with all kinds of intense feelings and emotions. It's expressing them in socially acceptable ways that gets tricky."
I got 144. I love speaking in public, but I tend to prefer conversations by phone so that others are obliged to use words, not expect me to read "body language" (whatever that is.)
I know! I hate the "body language" thing.
Internet communications are the best because I don't have to guess whose turn it is to speak!
Clarissa
I got a 147. So I am more than twenty points closer to sinking into neurotypical imbecility than you are. I “lost” points because I am not particularly bothered by noise and light.
I thought it was interesting how they had questions about God and an afterlife. I guess the theory is that Aspergers are more likely to be atheists. My assumption is that Aspergers are less likely to belong to organized religions because they would have less of a desire for the social elements of it.
Ok, it seems like for now I win. :-) :-)
It's great that everybody started coming here to share their scores. This means that at least for some people autism is losing its stigma.
"Do people sometimes think you are smiling at the wrong occasion?"
Clarissa, I really hope you answered 'yes' to this one because it's a really weird habit of yours :))))
M.
Izgad--That's more than 30 points closer to neurotypicality (is that a word?) than Clarissa!
I took it out of curiosity, more than anything else, and scored 101 Aspie and 117 neurotypical, which means (according to them) that I have both Asperger's characteristics and neurotypical characteristics. I am not at all surprised, but would never say that I have Asperger's, mostly because I am not so into labels. I don't mind admitting to having quirks or peculiarities, although I suppose many people with Asperger's would not want to call their Aspie symptoms "quirks or peculiarities" because of the negative connotation. (Those words aren't really so negative in my mind; I much prefer to be friends with people who are unusual than with people who are usual.)
I also chafe at the term "neurotypical," though, because I always seemed different enough from other people to be not quite neurotypical. Also, it's another label, and labels don't suit me.
I also think that I would have scored higher on the Asperger's traits when I was younger, and wonder what that means for the Asperger's label for people like me who might be, or once have been, borderline. I realized, at some point, that I really *needed* to have friends to make it in this world, and that would require learning to adopt certain social conventions that I now use quite handily, like small talk. But I still think that small talk in and of itself is stupid; it's a tool that I use to develop and grow friendships so I can have conversations with people about actually interesting and relevant things. Other social conventions that I have worked hard to develop are listening skills and remembering to let other people speak (once in awhile). Those skills have been hard-won, but have enriched my life.
Thanks for posting this link!
Your Aspie score: 161 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 47 of 200
I have a problem with the fashion part since everybody seems to have a different definition of fashion.
I had a problem with lot of questions since some were subjectives, prompt to relativity.
I already thought about being diagnosed, but I'm a bit scared.
Somehow, if I was diagnosed as aspie, I would feel more authorized to have Asperger's syndrom's "symptoms", but it may not be great for me to feel authorized.
Then, I'm scared about what the person who would try to diagnose me would say, ask, how she/he would act.
So, I'm reading lot of things about Asperger's and I guess one day I'll go and be diagnosed, so I know if I have it or not.
(it's late here in France, I might explain myself quite bad)
I think everybody should decide whether they need an official "diagnosis" or not. If people don't feel like getting one, that's perfectly fine. On this blog, I'm trying to help people get more comfortable with the way they are if they suspect they must be autistic. This is everybody's private business, and the best way to proceed, I think, should be based on your individual needs.
Hi Clarissa:
Finally got up the nerve to take this quiz. All my life I've thought I was just weird and could be like everyone else if I only tried - harder. Scores: Aspie: 142 out of 200; neurotypical: 56 out of 200. I did not find the questions to be odd or hard to understand. I'm pretty sure my sexual desires are unusual. I did find the questions were good at pointing out to me just how odd my behavior is. So - I may have pulled back on a few answers.
I will schedule some time to look into this further.
Thanks for putting it out there.
As for those anti-Clarissa blog people - sheer jealousy.
You are smart, eloquent and fearless.
Thank you for the kind words, Iris.
Weirdness is good, it's what makes us original, unusual, interesting, and fascinating. I now accept "weird" as a compliment when it's directed at me.
Hmmm - I like that summation of weirdness.
Cheers
Friend: You don't need to go to a specialist until you are completely comfortable with the idea. And you don't need to be what anybody else's definition of "normal" wants you to be. You and I are completely normal and have a perfect right to be who we are.
Feel free to come here and share anything you want. There are many of us, and we are there for you! You are valuable just as you are.
Clarissa,please erase my both posts-last 2 in topic. I am back to my achievements- it is the only way.I need get rid of even looking at such posts- it works better.
I realized finally I can turn my way .it is just a choice.It was dangerous to go through the test for me and to refresh everything that I tried to get rid off. No doctors,no diagnosis--I simply walking out and start to built myself all over.Thank you,Clarissa.
Good luck, Anonymous! Whenever you need to share or want some support, I'm here for you, ok?
Clarissa! I wanted to share your blog on fb ,but in order to do so i need you to erase my previous January 31, 2011 9:55 PM
post as well--you know--Aspie...Sorry for that mess!
Clarissa. I cant understand why after the years of hard work to change the nature,and successfully,--now after a few(5 months) months of fighting the evil(not going further,job related)--all my earliest natural reactions(to be a beat in clinical death whenever in front of people) are back. If it would not be such hard work to get rid of. Now I am back to be practically mute and paralized.I just wish as Howard Hughes and Salinger to have place and be hidden.What to do--I am disappointed. Seems we are born already 100%being done, it never ever changes,my thoughts are the same as when i was 5 y.o.-to be hidden.
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