I've stumbled onto this site a few times (and have lurked for a bit before moving on). I don't often make posts on sites but I was wondering if you all could help me out with this. I've wondered for a while whether I land on the autism scale anywhere, but I'm really not sure. Before I wall of text anyone, I'd like to thank everyone who reads this and gives any and all opinions. It's much appreciated.
tl;dr? My scores for the tests listed in the 'Set of scientific tests related to Autism Spectrum Disorders' thread are at the bottom.
Aside from my tests, I'm not sure what else I can give you. So, instead, I'll list some of my personality traits and quirks that I find abnormal. I try to limit the negative ones as much as possible.
I'm female, almost 17, and I attend a relatively small school in the USA.
-I will obsess over a pasttime, interest, or food for weeks or months before dropping it completely and moving on to something else. It's either all or nothing, for example: I cannot just casually play a video game, I have to play it with most of my free time, mod it (if possible), read the wikipedia or TVtropes articles on it, read ingame books (Skyrim, Oblivion), and generally talk about it to everyone in the vicinity when I can't play it. However, once I'm tired of it, I stop playing immediately (and I'll probably return to it and become obsessed again in a few months to a year if I consider it a good game).
-While I generally dislike meeting new people, social situations, and groups of people, I make an exception for a few close friends of mine. Instead, the opposite seems to be true for them: I need to set and work to meet boundries and not become overbearing. I've had one of my close friends tell me to limit my interaction with him (I took every available opportunity to talk to him). While I've never been able to test it, I feel like I could spend days with my close friends without tiring of their presence. I get extremely emotionally invested in them (sometimes to the detriment of the friendship), and put their needs, generally, before my own. This is atypical of my normal behavior around most people, including my family.
-I sleep talk/sleep interact without remembering anything when I'm fully awake. This isn't related, however, I am told I'm extremely rude and standoffish, to the point of once delivering an insult that made my mom cry one night.
-Visitors to the house are warned that I'm standoffish, and told not to mind my behavior. I try to be hospitable, but often I'll just spend the time that they're over in my room with my dog, feeling uncomfortable at others just being in the house.
-I cannot fully concentrate on what I'm doing if anyone is in my room. The cupboard and laundry is in my room, so if someone walks in I'll just sit at the edge of my bed until they leave.
-I'm uncomfortable greeting people back, I don't like physical contact unless I want it, I will get stuck on words in the middle of a sentence and have to restart everything to be able to continue what I was saying, and answering direct questions, especially from strangers, is hard for me. I stutter occasionally.
-I'll say things and be told later I was being rude or inappropriate. Often, after getting an explanation, I'll understand why, but not always. For example: I once told a woman that I took to be in her early 40s at the latest that she looked very good for her age (54), and I thought she was younger than my mother (who I also frequently tell she looks very good for her age). My mom was present for this conversation. I also reassured my mom she looked young for her age. I walked away thinking I had complimented both of them, until my mom pointed out how what I said was apparently innapropriate and I should have left it at 'you look good for your age'. I still don't fully understand why anyone was offended.
-In the same vein, a good portion of my compliments turn out to be insults.
-I'll get so engrossed in something that I won't realize when someone is talking to me. I hate being interrupted if I'm that involved in what I'm doing (and again, I'll probably be rude without realizing it).
-Pacing and thinking/daydreaming is possibly my favorite longstanding pasttime.
-I'm afraid of the dark (still), suck my thumb (still), require music at all times (I find silence opressive, and the music covers up all the other little noises of the house), and strongly dislike crowded areas, speaking in front of anyone, and public in general. If my dog is not in my room at night I start to get scared and even if she is there, I have to fight nervousness to fall asleep, usually. I worry too much. I think too much.
-I have an incredibly low opinion of myself.
-While I strongly identify and connect with my few friends, I cannot hang out with their 'clique' and feel comfortable. Generally, I eat lunch alone, and all interaction with my friends is limited to times where we can speak one-on-one or in a small group. The addition of more people (especially ones I don't really know at all) completely ruins any atmosphere for me and I end up feeling like an outsider and not really talking at all. I do not go to any social events that do not involve my close friends and only my close friends.
-I'm very emotional, prone to getting depressed, and I cry. Mostly at dogs and suicide-prevention stories. Most everything else will not phase me unless I'm in a very down mood (and I rarely know what exactly causes my moods).
-I love fiction. I do not read nonfiction books, but I will research topics of interest online.
-I strongly dislike changes in my close friends. Hair cuts, changes in relationship status, even surgeries or classes or anything that I wasn't informed of before. They leave me with an empty, depressed feeling instead of a more appropriate one.
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Test Results
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Your result for The Broad Autism Phenotype Test ...
Autistic/BAP
You scored 115 aloof, 100 rigid and 90 pragmatic
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The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ): 39
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EQ SQ - R Test: 17 (EQ) 69 (SQ) Extreme Systemizing
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Emotional Intelligence Test: Snapshot Report - 57/100
"You appear to have at least some basic skill..."
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Mind in the Eyes: Your score - 29
A typical score is in the range 22-30.
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Your Aspie score: 124 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 66 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie
(I have taken this with my family's input once, and there was an even greater discrepancy between my Aspie/NT scores.)
Breakdown:
Aspie Talent - 5.6/10 (average)
NT Talent - 4.4/10 (average)
Aspie Compulsion - 7.3/10 (above average)
NT Compulsion - 2.1/10 (below average)
Aspie Social - 7.0/10 (above average)
NT Social - 1.2/10 (below average)
Aspie Communication - 5.7/10 (average)
NT Communication - 3.9/10 (average)
Aspie Hunting - 3.8/10 (average)
NT Hunting - 6.7/10 (above average)
Aspie Perception - 4.1/10 (average)
NT Perception - 3.6/10 (average)
Environement - 8.3/10 (above average)
For environment, I answered yes to every question.
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Again, thanks to anyone who reads and replies. And hello, WP!
14 Apr 2012, 6:43 pm
