Adjusting AQ test cutoffs for gender?

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SplendidSnail
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24 Aug 2018, 6:59 pm

I've often wondered whether the AQ test should be adjusted for gender. We know that average NT women score 15, and average NT men score 17. But yet we say that 26 is a "borderline" result for both genders, and we say that 32 is a "probable ASD" result for both genders.

If we say that women are expected to score 11.76% lower than men when NT (~the difference between 15 and 17), shouldn't we be applying the same to the borderline and probable cutoffs as well?

If we say that, cutoffs for women would be as follows:
22.9: Borderline ASD
28.2: Probable ASD

Thoughts? I'm probably over-simplifying things, but it feels at least a bit better than using exactly the same cutoffs.


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Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder / Asperger's Syndrome.


MrsPeel
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25 Aug 2018, 3:17 am

I think the test questions are skewed towards picking up the more typically male presentation.
Better to revise the test questions to better pick up the female phenotype.



firemonkey
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25 Aug 2018, 8:12 am

Possibly there should a test for males and a test or females.



MrsPeel
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26 Aug 2018, 4:49 am

There's a bit of a Catch-22 situation with respect to diagnosing females:
You can't find all the autistic women without proper diagnostic tools, but you can't develop the diagnostic tools until you've studied enough autistic women.