Am I Autistic?

Okay. I took the test again. My past anxiety and depression are in check now, so I thought that would make me "less autistic" on that test as quite a few questions relate to social anxiety.

And I got the lowest score I've ever had -- 30. (Previously I was getting ~35 ±3.)

But 30 is still above the threshold for indicating Asperger's. I've mentioned this over the years to a few close friends and family -- and my old therapist -- and their response was always "don't be so silly!".

It's as if I have some strong "Aspie" traits, but not others so much. I'm just wondering how much these tests can be relied upon... :-/

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Well in my case as i sed i couldent rely on them to mush ether so i checked and so on and took quite a few others and got the same result al over the board (and i also took Depression , anxiety test as well as Bipolar test and i was aparantly WAY up top there as well i might ad) THEN as i sed i checked my latest DSM test -5 (20010 ) and saw black and white that i do have significant traits of symtoms related to ASD so thats why im able to conclude that i have significant ADS traits as well as previos severe ADHD so i would say they are quite relieble HOWEVER as is also stated they are NOT ment to be medicaly diagnoses only gudelines of possible risks for sed diagnoce and if you have concerns you are sugested to seek profetinal help to get a thural diagnocis

Anonther point might be as over here the bar for being diagnosed ASD have been raised and some that have previosly been diagnosed with say Asbergers are now failing that grade as to higher points required to get ASD diagnose

Fyi, just asked my sister about it. (We dont talk to often since we live far apart). Apparently though she had already gotten an official diagnosis for Aspergers a couple of years ago. Looks like it runs in the family.

Slomo said:

Fyi, just asked my sister about it. (We dont talk to often since we live far apart). Apparently though she had already gotten an official diagnosis for Aspergers a couple of years ago. Looks like it runs in the family.

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It's been shown that genetics has a lot to do with it, and it's like Huntington's Syndrome aka St Vitus' Dance, along with Lupus, ... one sister had grand mal seizures until age 2 then none since 1966. Most of my siblings had chicken pox TWICE. Again genetic and, with native Americans there's little extras with the pox and measles varieties. Like neural dysfunctions.

You would have to be diagnosed, but it is Austism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) which is a LARGE spectrum of things. You can be high functioning and just have difficulties with impulsiveness and social skills. I think everyone has a little bit of the nature of ASD in them. I can relate to wanting to do things on my own and do them a specific way. I am also really socially awkward. But I do not have it. I am a special education teacher so I work with students that have ASD every day. There is nothing wrong with having ASD and every person with it is so different. Just embrace your uniqueness!

WELL spoken may i also just ad that the specifik signs of sed ASD symtoms are difrent from Girls to Boys as well in the way we show our symtoms. (Same with ADHD btw )

NeverKnow said:

I have always assumed that your bluntness is intentionally ironic--not that it's insincere, but that there is some sort of joke being made in, for example, constantly correcting people on the use of semi-technical terms. But if it's not self-conscious, then I could see that would be solid evidence at least for the "Other people frequently tell me that what I’ve said is impolite, even though I think it is polite." indicator.

I also scored 26/50, but that probably has disproportionately to do with one kind of indicator, i.e., being uncomfortable in social situations. I find it extremely difficult to keep conversations going with people I don't know well. I just can't find anything to say, unless they can talk about one of the few topics on which I can really get going.

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Nope. With me, what you see is what you get. I am purposely blunt (also cold and logical) specifically so I can be straightforward, truthful, and right to the point. And there is absolutely no reading in between the lines with what I say.

Autistic people are unintentionally blunt. So that could be another clue you might not have it since you just said you do it on purpose.

But however, you don't need every symptom to have it so I am sure you can still be autistic and not be unintentionally blunt.

Slomo said:

So I often see someone say they are Autistic and like or do certain things I can relate to. I have never been diagnosed as Autistic though, even by my old therapist from when I was a kid.

So on a whim I just decided to try an online self test here; https://psychology-tools.com/autism-spectrum-quotient/
Yeah, yeah, I know to take those with the proverdial "grain of salt". Still, I scored a 26 out of 50, were 26 or more is within the Autisim spectrum. So I guess that may indicate I might be in the low end spectrum, but there none the less.

So my question to anyone who is familiar with my posts. What do you think, am I?


Ps, I don't really care about the label applying to me more than interest in seeing if I might fit within the label. Don't care enough to try getting an official diagnosis either.

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I scored a 29. I have been told I may fall on the low end of the spectrum.

Forcing oneself to be blunt and to the immediate point is a major accomplishment in self-therapy. I could go on and on and on and just keep repeating myself and also repeating myself until the listener starts to bleed from the ears and shouting STOP STOP STOP and it doesn't stop and I just keep going and going and going like that damn bunny in the battery commercials...

Anyhow... I put a post into a thread about AI in off topic/Computers and Gaming about a free Linux application suite for do-it-your-self biofeedback.

There's a lot of mystery still surrounding an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis.

A few hallmarks of it are usually some sort of social difficulty, evidence of "stimming", propensity to sensory overload, digestive issues, persevervating, extreme wavering of aptitude (A's in math-related subjects, D's in "english"-related subjects), among other things. There is a "spectrum" meaning, you could be a socially ordinary person who merely wiggles his hands when he's excited, or someone whose disorder makes it hard to even speak. Its hard for a previously-data-mined test to diagnose you. It is even challenging for a clinician to diagnose you...

Synaptic pruning is, what they have researched, is at the base of an ASD, and it has much to do with how the brain does not "clean up after itself", or the patterns the brain has created since childhood. Less synapses generally indicate a more focused brain, and the more synapses, the more neural noise is generated.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160502161118.htm

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/22/...en-have-too-many-synapses-study-suggests.html

They show an increase in quality of life with the new "TMS" treatment, which magnetically alters the chemistry of the brain. Both depression and autism show signs of improvement with this treatment...

https://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/2...-magnetic-stimulation-autism-evidence-benefit

Anyway, my take away here is that autism is hard to pinpoint, and most who consider the disorder as a possible diagnosis usually include a battery of tests and/or scans, and generally, a sample of your medical conditions portioned over time. We are gradually understanding what the spectrum is and how to fix it, not for someone to be more "socially acceptable" or whatever, but so that the client could live a more wholesome life.

In any scope, I wish you the best.