ASD Diagnosis Questionnaires are Confusing!! !

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So, after years of my doctor screwing things up and getting things wrong, I'm FINALLY referred to the correct place to be assessed for aspergers syndrome.

There's a huge waiting list, so in the mean time I've been given two questionnaires to fill in and mail back. One is called 'The Cambridge Behaviour Scale' and the other 'The Adult Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) Ages 16+'.

I'm having a bit of trouble with a few of the statements I have to pick definitely agree, slightly agree, slightly disagree or definitely disagree to. Firstly, I WISH they had a middle option or a "it depends" option!

The statements are very brief and without more details it's very difficult to determine what the hell they're trying to mean! Some also ask about things I haven't a clue about because it's about what OTHERS think and say about my behaviour - How the hell am I supposed to know? Do I ask somebody? Or it could be something about 'a friend' - Well what if I haven't got any friends? Anyone else experienced this?

Can anyone help me with the following statements I'm finding it hard to answer... as in... What are they trying to ask?

"I enjoy caring for other people." --- Don't most people?

"People sometimes tell me that I have gone too far with teasing."

"I don't consciously work out the rules of social situations." --- I have NO IDEA what this means.

"I am a good diplomat."

"I like to collect information about categories of things." --- What about just collecting objects or being very interested in particular things? Does it HAVE to be information?

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

I would take the slightly agree option if you think it depends, slightly agree probably means that anyway

I don't enjoy caring for people, in terms of looking after someone, like if you worked in a hospital, but if it means caring as in emotionally caring for your family then its a strange question


"I don't consciously work out the rules of social situations." I don't get that one either, what is there to work out? its just talking isn't it, and if you have a social deficit how would you know you needed to work out rules in situations, I usually am oblivious, if I am socially inept then I don't know it and friends that I do have seem to just accept me anyway.

I have similar issues with not understanding questions or not relating to the specifics of the question (like how you say you don't collect information, but you do collect objects), but sometimes I just simply don't know the answer. Or I've never been in such a situation; teasing isn't something I do. If I did, would someone call me out for going too far? I don't know, would they?

I had this issue too. Like that question "enjoy caring for other people" made me think about whether or not it was supporting a false dichotomy. It makes me think that someone would score as "less autistic" just because they really enjoy caring for other people, even though at the same time they still totally show the symptoms when it comes to that area. Sympathy and compassion, and empathy and easy relation are so different. It just seemed like I was having a bunch of false dichotomies thrown at me and I couldn't choose the middle ground (i.e. no preference) or "it depends" so it frustrated me.

At the same time that I'm glad we've made so much progress on this since I was originally diagnosed, I am kind of glad that I didn't have to take a test like that when I got diagnosed. A psychologist just had a few conversations with me and asked some pointed questions, we did exercises like imaginative play, going over my early development with my parents and going over what had happened since then.

No, not everyone does enjoy caring for other people. I would say that I don't.



Do they?



Some people have to plan what they will do and say in social situations. Like having a mental checklist - remember to say hello, remember to ask questions about the person's life, remember not to talk for too long at a time, remember to excuse yourself if you want to go and get something to eat instead of just walking away from someone mid-conversation…. That kind of thing.


Are you tactful? Do you say what you think, regardless of the fact that it might be hurtful to the person?


That's an odd wording, but I would take that to mean do you learn a lot or do a lot of research on a narrow field of interest.


A concrete example might be, if you are setting the table, do you tend to get caught up on making sure each item of cutlery is perfectly spaced and placed, or are you more interested in simply getting the table settings out and the whole table set.

If there's a question you just plain don't understand, there's always the option of leaving it blank...and maybe putting several question marks next to it.

Maybe even a scribbled note saying "What in the world does this even mean?!?" or something similar.

They may get the point.

Those questions you quoted sound like the online Aspie quiz with the 200 points for NT and 200 points for Aspie.

When I took that quiz, there were questions I had to leave blank.

Marcia, I respectfully disagree. I think you may have misinterpreted the wording of the statement. Planning a script in advance and sticking to it by following your own mental checklist is not the same thing as consciously working out the rules of social situations.

OP, what the question is referring to is that people with Asperger's do not possess the ability to just "know" what things are appropriate to do and say in social situations, and which are not.

An example: when I worked in an office, the boss held a general meeting and made an announcement to the staff to tell us that he had changed his mind about a decision he had previously promised us he would be making to improve our benefits package. My mouth fell open in dismay, and before he could move on to talk about something else, I interrupted his speech and indignantly protested, asking him why he wasn't going to be doing what he had promised us.

The staff standing next to me instantly said "shhhhhh" to me, and tugged on my arms to try and make me be quiet. Even though I knew that all the other people must be angry about the announcement as well, none of them vocalised their indignation, nor betrayed their feelings on their faces.

Apparently they were all following some rule that said "never interrupt or question a boss when he is talking during a meeting. Do not betray your true feelings about what he says if it makes you angry. You might come across as rude, and be fired and lose your job."

I did not know about that unwritten rule, because I have Asperger's. I was not meaning to be rude when I interrupted my boss. I just simply did not understand why he had changed his mind, so I wanted to ask him why. I thought it was reasonable for me to ask him. By observing the reaction of the rest of the staff when I spoke up, I now know that during a staff meeting you are supposed to be quiet and listen to what your superiors say, and not talk at all until the end. At the end of the meeting you may talk, if and when the superiors ask if anyone has any questions.

That was rather a long example, but hopefully you'll see what I mean. Because I did not unconsciously know that it would be "wrong" to interrupt my boss, I had to work out that unwritten rule afterwards, and remember it for future reference.

Does this happen to you? Do you have to analyse baffling situations and work out unwritten "rules" that others seem to be following? If you have Asperger's, until you work out those unwritten rules you will often find yourself doing or saying the "wrong" thing in other people's eyes, even though what you are doing or saying will seem perfectly logical or reasonable to you.

When I took online questionnaire some words and the sentences very difficult for me to understand.

Same with hearing words, it can be hard for self to start doing.

The AQ is NOT a DIAGNOSTIC tool.

Did anyone say it was?

The questions mentioned, however, do sound like those from the online quiz. The questionaire was given to the OP by professionals, so I'd leave things in their hands, and not mess with what they're doing.

Unless you're a qualified medical professional who specializes in the autism field, you shouldn't be saying what should or shouldn't be done.

1) Title of topic.

2) The authors of the AQ test mentioned that it is not intended to be diagnostic. It's used for screening.