Problems with the AQ test.

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I went through the AQ test with my suspected HFA friend recently, helping him to fill out, and we kept falling over the questions with puzzled minds just like all of you writing here. I totally agree with you (and wonder a little why this test was proved here on WP being one of the most reliable of the online Aspie-related tests, besides the Aspie quiz.)

I did my best with translation and interpretation, but this one ""When I talk, it isn't always easy for others to get a word in edgewise." I totally misunderstood then...

I wasn't initially sure how to respond to many of the questions... many of the things they are asking are things I have learned and practice daily adaptive behaviors for. Do I answer based on my pre-behavior modifications or do I answer post modifications? Can I make small talk - yes. Do I understand it's purpose, maintain an interest in it while practicing it or seek it out from others for my own comfort - hell no.

I've answered all of these tests as a right now snap shot - post modifications. I still came out on the spectrum. At the high end of it, but still firmly there. I'm kind of scared to take it from the pre-modifications POV.

This test seems to be written by someone who doesn't understand how ambiguous the questions are. Many of them are difficult to know what they're even asking. I think this test fails basic comprehensibility.

"I am fascinated by dates." The nuts used in a recipe? A night out with someone? A designation for a chronological event (like when the Civil War started)?

I would not know how to answer "I would rather go to a library than to a party." and "I would rather go to the theater than to a museum" I would not go to any of the four if I had any choice, and all are equally bad for me, so how can I honestly answer? Similarly, questions ask "People often tell me" and "Other people frequently tell me" but no one frequently tells me anything. How do I honestly answer?

"When I'm reading a story, I find it difficult to work out the characters' intentions." You mean like early Earnest Hemingway where you can't even tell who is speaking because he goes pages without indicating a speaker in his dialogue, or do you mean some emo young-adult writer like Maureen Johnson who hits readers over the head with it?

I have trouble parsing what "playing games involving pretending with other children" means, and how I parse would affect my answer. Maybe "playing games with other children which involve pretending", or "playing games where I pretend I am playing with other children".

And so on - this test isn't very good because it's not easy to understand.

hehehe... I had my husband take the Wired AQ test - he got a 15. He's even more normal that the average...

I scored 40 on that thing but I have no idea of the real 'severity' of my condition.

Even though this quiz doesn't really have a high predictability for possessing aspergers for "moderate scores"(in the 30-40 range), the multiple-regression analysis I performed suggested that it was nearly twice as predictive as the Aspie quiz. However, someone might want to look over the formula I derived in computing the relative predictability just to be sure...

And, anyways, I totally agree. There definitely needs to be a more objective test for aspergers such as an "ability" or "skills" or something other than a self-assessment test. I was looking into creating such a test by essentially copying Queendom's test, but I'd have to pay people to pose for photographs and I don't really want to put in that kind of financial risk for something that might prove to not be that predictive. I'd have to pay people because stealing Queendom's material directly would obviously put me in legal hot water.