Aspie tests that have validity

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I will have a doctor and/or psychologist lined up. Well-known would certainly be best, but I think that anyone who possesses a license to practise, and who is supportive, will do.

Right now, I am just trying to put together some convincing documentation. One psychologist gave me more comprehensive tests (Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, plus MMPI-2). Trying to take charge of my own psychoanalysis might possibly not be a great idea. I'm just trying to look for anything that might help.

The reason I suggested a well-known, respected expert witness is because the other side will likely have one or more expert witnesses, too. The person on your side must be able to stand up to them. The more experience the person has (including as an expert witness), the better.

Actually, the route that I am going, is against the US Office of Personnel Management. They at least historically have never brought in their own expert witnesses--all that they have done in the past is ask questions of your doctor (if you produce one for the hearing).

Then I would recommend using BOTH the AQ and the Australian Scale for Asperger's Syndrome, which is co-written by Tony Attwood, another big name in the field.

There is no reason to limit yourself to a single test. Diagnosis isn't made by a single test, so use at least a few valid ones. And the AQ and ASAS have both gone through test trials and are usually used by their developers during diagnostic evaluations.

Mine is 37. I've never been formally diagnosed with AS/ASD but I always score positive for it on these tests. Maybe I just know the criteria too well? I don't know. Sometimes, I'm unsure about the questions because it varies, really. I don't think I'd ever get a "formal" diagnosis. I focus on my son's needs and this keeps me busy enough.

I've learned how to function, to meet people, to engage in social chit chat to talk about weather etc. I can't say I love it, but it's like memorizing a script. I have to say that sometimes it backfires and I find myself saying fine thank you before the person even asks how I'm doing. Or, have a nice evening (when it's day) or something else awkard. It's as if my brain misfires.

equinn

That is one downside on many types of these self-report questionnaires: that it is possible to cheat the test and get the score the testee may want.

Not saying it invalidates them. That's just a weakness of many of those tests.

One thing I noticed about the RDOS test stats is that self-diagnosed people score nearly identically to officially diagnosed people, on average.

This suggests that either most self-diagnoses are correct, or the RDOS questions are subjective enough that it's really just a test of whether you think of yourself as an aspie.

Personally, I would only call that a weakness if the test results are misused as a diagnosis. Cheating is possible with any questionaire or interview schedule. In my field, sociology, we deal with that problem all the time, and we have ways to control for it.

In terms of diagnosis, the protection is having a clinician, someone who is familiar with the diagnostic criteria, making an interpretation. Tests alone can't do that.

One possibility is a kind of group-think. People who consider themselves members of a group will attempt to conform to it by adopting the thinking and views of others in that group.

WOW, I STILL don't know how blackcat got such a high score.(She may have gotten the highest AS score of anyone here) Frankly, I am not doing things like trying to emulate others likes/dislikes. I didn't do it for NTs, and certainly won't for people here.

It's really hard to keep subtle biases and bits of your own self-image out of your answers in such tests, even if you're trying to be as objective as possible.

Try taking the test twice and seeing how much you can steer your answers in each direction just by choosing how to interpret the questions, without actually lying.
(I wouldn't suggest submitting the results if you try this, though. That'd pollute the statistics.)

As far as I can discern, the Australian one is strictly for school-aged children. I'm almost 49.

Does anyone know of any good tests that don't rely on self evaluation? I happened to see an autistic "theory of mind" test in a bargain book on brain differences this weekend, but they spelled out the answer before giving the question, so I don't know what I would have answered. I tried the eye/emotion test linked earlier, and I got a high-average 28 even though looking at the eyes gave me a headache

I know too much now about what I'm "supposed" to answer on self-evals, but I'm looking to see where my weaknesses are in interpreting emotions. Are theory of mind tests any good? Any good perceptual tests out there?

i scored 35 o n this new quiz,

would it be very aspic to prefer Münchhausen by Proxy?

I don't like rdos' test for the simple reason it's too damn long; it totally kills my attention span (those with Asperger's generally have an attention span of minutes concerning things they aren't interested in--was told this by one of Attwood's underlings; 15 minute blocks is the best for those with Asperger's).

These tests are looking for an effect, it cannot predict the cause; the effects of these tests can be related to autism, they can also be related to other mental disorders; they can also pick up totally "normal" people who prefer things the "AS" way.

I know a "normal" person who scores high on both the AQ test and the "aspie quiz"; I also know an individual with Asperger's who scores low on both.

They're good starting points, and they can point one in the correct direction; especially if whatever they have is affecting them in life, but no one prior has been able to pick up the "problem", i.e., a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder for example which may very well be secondary to AS (it's where I started after all).