Autistic Adult Takes the AQ (autistic quotient test) with @IndieAndy

number 17 I enjoy social chitchat no hi everyone I am Sam and welcome back to my channel today's video is kind of a collab with in the Andy who has his own YouTube channel about autism so a special big welcome to those of you who have come over from his channel I was recently diagnosed with autism as an adult and I now make videos about autism and near adversity and everything from an autistic adults perspective so subscribe if you like that kind of content now Ellie Andy also makes videos about life as an autistic adult so if you like my videos you'll definitely like his stuff so please come and check out his video on the same topic after this one he's actually taking the exact same test as me so if you want to compare and contrast our answers and our interpretations of the questions it should be kind of interesting to see how differently we respond so the aq test itself well we wanted to do this video to make a point about certain things so the fact that many of these kinds of questionnaires are used as a screener by healthcare professionals so there might be the first step towards diagnosis for many people Christina is typically I used as diagnostic tools but I don't think the aq is so commonly used and I personally find this particular test very misleading ambiguous and kind of perpetuating certain stereotypes about autistic people I also kind of feel like I've taken this test a few times in my life and I feel like my answers change depending on my mood so I'm not really sure that it's a particularly valid test of autism now I'm not doing this test to sort of encourage you to self diagnose or unselfish or anything like that it's really more of a criticism of the test and getting people to understand why so many people go undiagnosed for so many years even though it's not like they have milder autism it's just that they have slightly different autism from the stereotypes and from the kind of presentation of autism that is in these tests and I really just want to start a discussion about how we maybe need to modernize our understanding of autism and just update it and bring it kind of into the 21st century of it but before we begin other questions I'm really curious to know what you think that I and what you think that in D&E we'll both score on the test so it's out of 50 anything from sort of zero to ten is extremely low ten to twenty is kind of average in the population twenty to thirty is sort of considered borderline or the author's vert works not me mild autism and anything from sort of around thirty to fifty is considered autistic AF or as they might put it a strong likelihood of being autistic so please let me know in the comments your predictions and we'll see if you are right so let's get on with the questions some of them I will find really easy to answer and some of them I really don't actually get what they're trying to say I'm interested to know whether you guys agree with my interpretation of all these questions so let's get started okay number one I prefer to do things with others rather than on my own this one I find really hard to answer because it depends on what I'm doing if I want to work on something that I want to do it by myself because I want to concentrate but if I'm doing things that's like a social thing then by definition I want to be with other people so I I still don't really know how to do that I guess I would say slightly disagree because I do like being on my own a lot but not all the time this is a really standard well hasn't it okay number two I prefer to do things the same way over and over again things is a very abstract thing do I do my chores the same way over and over again I mean yes because I feel like that is a more efficient way of doing things I actually really don't know if I like to do things the same way over and over again so I'll put a slightly disagree because I don't feel like that's a very obvious thing this is all really drove me crazy okay number three if I try to imagine something I find it very easy to create a picture in my mind yes I am very very visual number four I frequently get so strongly absorbed in one thing that I lose sight of other things frequently maybe I think I definitely I know I hyper focus a lot I do but frequently see I getting stuck on the word frequently whereas they probably meant it I frequently get so absorbed now a slightly agree number five I often notice small sounds when others do not yes I have very sensitive hearing definitely agree number six I usually notice car number plates or similar streams of information actually the first time that I took this test I thought oh no that's that's so stereotypically autistic I don't do that and then actually just a couple of days later I was driving around and there was something in my brain that was was making me think of the word laugh like laughing you know and I'm thinking like why am I thinking about laughing right now and then I realized that the car in front of me has the number plate lrp and it like looks it looks like lob I guess I noticed car number plates I noticed a lot of things I just I'm not very interested in car number plates but if there's a funny string of text I will definitely notice it so I'm gonna have to put strongly agree for this one no definitely agree for this one yet okay number seven other people frequently tell me this this word frequently I guess I like that other people frequently tell me that what I've said is impolite even though I think it is polite now this is interesting because this is what other people tell you people don't typically tell me I'm impolite but that doesn't mean that I haven't inadvertently been impolite but I'm gonna be honest here and slightly disagree I think maybe it's been brought up but it's not something that happens so often number eight when I'm reading a story I can easily imagine what the characters might look like yeah I think so number nine I am fascinated by dates no I'm not really fascinated by days okay number ten in a social group I can easily keep track of several different people's conversations that's really easy for me to answer definitely disagree I can in some ways but the minute I am asked to be in the conversation I definitely can't I don't know what's going on so if I'm a silent observer I could probably listen to all of them but then people typically expect you to contribute in conversations don't they anyway that was a disagree I find it very hard if there's a lot of people talking and I'm trying to talk to someone I really struggle to to keep up let's say number 11 I find social situations easy slightly disagree I find one-on-one situations a great deal easier than group situations but I don't really find social situations easy I'm always slightly on Angeles I've known the person a really long time so no it's not easy number 12 I tend to notice details that others do not yes I think that is strongly agree number 13 I would rather go to a library than a party this one I really object to because it's like okay well what type of library I want to have a party is it like kids week at the library and there's lots of kids running around and is it a party about I don't know cheese cheese do people have cheese parties they should but you know if it was a cheese party I would go what's the question I would rather get to a library than to a party no I like parties I just don't like hell if it's really noisy so slightly disagree because libraries I like going to libraries when I really have to focus or work or I let University Libraries I don't like just everything anyway number fourteen I find making up stories easy now I actually don't understand this question I don't know if they're getting it like writing fiction which is what I first thought it was or like lying like making up stories I don't know I'm kind of assuming they mean like when you're playing with a child and you're making up a scenario in your head so I would say slightly disagree number fifteen I find myself drawn more strongly to people than to things I think this is this is a very bad stereotype about autistic people that we don't like people and we like objects and machinery like I know a few autistic people now are in real life and I know many autistic people on the internet and I don't think any of us it really like that into machines over people so and no I strongly disagree I don't get drawn to things I'm interested in tech but I'm not drawn to things I don't even know what they're getting at by that I feel like that's a very stereotypical thing to say about autistic people 16 I tend to have very strong interests which I guess a bit upset about if I can't pursue I mean I'm not getting upset about in terms of I wouldn't have like a meltdown because I couldn't pursue it every day or something but like if I don't indulge these kind of passions I will not feel fulfilled in my life so I will say slightly agree number 17 I enjoy social chitchat no to me social chitchat is like small talk it's kind of I get why it's there it's kind of like to ease you in but in my head it's only something to kind of work out something more interesting to talk about it doesn't do anything for me just by itself you meet someone at a party and you chat what's the point I would rather talk to them about their interests and see we have you know more meaningful things in common from number 18 when I talk it isn't always easy for others to get a word in edgewise sometimes yes if I'm talking about something that I'm really excited about then I can go on sort of a monologue and I can talk very quickly and I can talk very kind of intensely if I don't know what to talk about sometimes I won't say anything at all so I kind of go between the very very talkative and the very sort of mute or silent that sort of person so some people who meet me in certain situations will think that I'm a really really quiet person and then some people will be like well she never she never shuts up I would say slightly agree like I said I go from one extreme to the other so actually either one of these is correct and answering in one way doesn't make me more or less autistic than anyone else so number 99 I am fascinated by numbers this'll also strikes me as a very stereotypically autistic question I'm fascinated by numbers I I'm pretty good at maths I really like statistics but it's this word fascinated I find that actually to me that sounds like it's written in a patch because this little boy isn't you so fascinated with his numbers I don't know I'm not fascinated with numbers actually one of the things I really like about YouTube is that they give you a comprehensive analytics section so my assumption is that I should write strongly agree on this but I don't know I don't know so this is the thing this these questions are like this questions aren't very easy to answer so if you answer them like one way because you're feeling a certain thing or you're interpreting the question in a certain way then your answer will be skewed so I think the fact that I am picking these questions apart also should count as an extra point towards autism you know because most people just answer the quiz donate a number twenty when I'm reading a story I find it difficult to work out the characters intentions strongly disagree I am pretty good at theory of mind actually number 21 I don't particularly enjoy reading fiction I'm gonna say slightly agree because I will read fiction but I'm really picky about what I like and what I enjoy and I prefer to read nonfiction so I'm gonna say slightly agree number 22 I find it hard to make new friends strongly agree I find it very easy to make friends with autistic people and people with ADHD but just in the general life thing I find it really difficult number 23 I noticed patterns and things all the time yes I agree number 24 I would rather go to the theater than to a museum this is another really stupid question I think because it depends what's what's on at the theater and it depends which museum you know I would love to go and see more musicals for example but I'm not really interested in like sort of experimental dramas something like that I don't know and like a museum I when I'm in London I absolutely love the Natural History Museum and the VNA but I wouldn't want to go to like the War museums maybe so I didn't know I would rather go to the theater than to a museum I would I attended lis prefer go into museums because they tend to be quieter more accessible from a sensory point of view so I'm gonna say slightly disagree because slightly disagree means I'd rather get to the yes it does not upset me if my daily routine is disturbed it does not upset me I would say it does kind of upset me a little bit number 26 I frequently find that I don't know how to keep a conversation going yes unless it's with someone that I really gel with or a topic that I'm very interested about I do struggle I really hate those awkward silences but then as soon as I realized this at awkward silence I don't know what to say so that's strongly agree number 27 I find it easy to read between the lines when someone is talking to me no and I find it very frustrating to do so because I wish they would just tell me number 28 I usually concentrate more on the whole picture rather than on the small details see this question annoys me because I do both I think but I am very detail-oriented and that which I think is what they're going for so I'm gonna say strongly disagree I usually concentrate more on the whole picture so that's a disagree the way that the disagree thing works is sometimes you're disagreeing with a negative as well so it's it's actually quite tricky to figure out some of these questions number 29 I'm not very good at remembering phone numbers this is kind of an old-fashioned question of course because nobody remembers phone numbers anymore I remember phone numbers from like my childhood when they used to dial on a phone so I would say disagree I think I'm I think I'm good I'm not really good but I'm good number 30 I don't usually notice small changes in a situation or a person's appearance no I won't I'll notice if someone has a haircut or if they've done something differently I think I would notice number 31 I know how to tell if someone listening to me is getting bored well clearly since I have a youtube channel I have absolutely no idea but you know YouTube does provide analytics on when people's attention is going and I kind of wish that they would do that in real life no I did I just slightly disagree I'm not very good at telling that but I'm always thinking I'm always a bit paranoid that people are getting bored which is why I've shut down conversations because I don't know if they interested on that 32 I find it easy to do more than one thing at once depends what it is but typically not really I prefer to focus I prefer to focus on one thing I don't think many people are good at doing more than one thing at once though number 33 when I talk on the phone I'm not sure when it's my turn to speak yeah I get this a lot and I find also that the slight sort of latency is very disruptive to a sort of natural flow of conversation so I'm gonna say strongly agree because I'm not very good at talking on the phone and number 34 I enjoy doing things spontaneously I would love to be the sort of person that does but realistically I like I like to have a plan number 35 I'm often the last to understand a point of a joke generally I would say strongly disagree I think I get jokes I hope I get jokes I get my own jokes number 36 I find it easy to work out what someone is thinking or feeling just by looking at their face yes and no I find it very easy to notice lots of subtle cues but I find it very hard to interpret them so I will generally pick up on an emotion but it's not what that person is kind of saying and then I'll say well I don't really understand why they would be feeling what they're showing me but I don't really understand why they're feeling that either I think I can work out how people feel but I don't always interpret it right does that make sense I've put slightly agree I don't know number 37 if there is an interruption I can switch back to what I was doing very quickly now I find this very hard number 38 I'm good at social chitchat wait didn't we really have this question what was it something else about social chip umm if I've got a lot of energy and I'm asking very heavily um am I good at it no okay I'm not good at just being polite and pleasant and no I'm not number 39 people often tell me that I keep going on and on about the same thing I don't think so I'm pretty good at I try to be good at reading whether somebody's interested in the topic that I'm talking about number 40 when I was young I used to enjoy playing games involving pretending with other children I struggled to remember the kind of games I played when I was young I struggled to remember the friendship dynamics apart from with my best friend when we played together it wasn't really pretending we used to do a lot of skit some like it and do little drama shows I would say disagree we didn't I don't think I did much pretending we would play other things in the schoolyard what we play you know like active games I don't think I remember doing much pretending I'm gonna put disagree because I don't remember another 41 I like to collect information about categories of things eg types of cars birds transplants the way that this question is worded really confuses me it's the collect information to me I don't collect information I remember stuff so collecting information sort of implies you are sort of purposefully collecting types of trains in your brain and you have it all in there like that I don't think that's what this question is getting at I think it's poorly worded actually I'm gonna interpret it as I remember lots of different information about certain topics because categories of things that's also it also implies there's a sort of difference in how you're actually memorizing things so I'm gonna see slightly agree but I don't really know I don't know number 42 I find it difficult to imagine what it would be like to be someone else yes I can imagine what it would be like to be in someone's shoes as it were like from their perspective if I was in that situation how would I feel but I'm not very good at saying if I was that person how would I feel so I don't think I would I don't think I really understand what it is like to be other people I'm gonna but slightly agree number 43 we're getting there I like to carefully plan any activities are participating generally speaking I would say yes number 44 I enjoy social occasions I could even agree I like going places I like being included I like all these things I just don't like social chitchat and lots of noise eh yeah I don't know that if it's strongly or slightly slightly because then it's like there's a caveat isn't that okay number 45 I find it difficult to work out people's intentions yes I find it difficult to know whether somebody's being nice to me because they want to be my friend or whether somebody is kind of like manipular being manipulative behind my back because the thing is like I would always try and work out well why why do they want to be my friend they really know me that well or they only know me because I've been this person here why would they want to be manipulative because what's the point of that like creating drama I don't get that perspective so yeah I find it easy to understand people and understand their psychology but I find it difficult to understand their intentions especially if they are not if they're neurotypical or if they're not like me so strongly agree I guess number forty six new situations make me anxious slightly yes some new situations will make me very anxious and some won't make me anxious at all but I would say it slightly yes number 47 I enjoy meeting new people um yes actually I do you know but after five minutes I'm done number 48 I have a good diplomat I feel like I've spent my life kind of working out the best way to say something will say what I mean without offending people so in some ways if I don't go around offending people the entire time that I must be a good diplomat because probably the thing that comes out of my brain initially is more offensive than what I end up saying so I'm gonna say slightly agree that I'm a good diplomat 49 I'm not pretty good at remembering people's date of birth I am and I'm not I think the way that society is kind of structured now like people basically just use Facebook to remind themselves but I still remember the birthdays from people I went to primary school with because we had a sheet of paper with all of that information and I would look at it and memorize it yeah why was it not more obvious when I just felt I'm not very good at remembering people's dates of birth disagree I think I it's just because you know when you get to your 30s people don't really have like birthday parties in the same way in the same kind of predictable way that you do when you're younger so I think it's just like birthdays are less important when you're older and therefore I don't remember them as well okay number 50 at the last question I find it very easy to play games with children that involved pretending my son is coming up to two and a half so I guess he's like he does some pretend play mostly involving eating and cooking and I find that easy because you know a kid brings you a edge to eat you go hmm that's easy right to be honest if it was like oh you're a dragon and I'm a princess and this kind of stuff no I didn't think I would find it easy and I think I would find it annoying more than difficult so disagree okay this has been a long video because there are 50 freaking questions on this test we are going to score it I've already taken this test before so I'm interested to see whether this particular answering of this of this quiz is actually different so let's go to score my answers [Applause] so I scored 36 out of a possible 50 which means that according to this I have significant autistic traits which I agree with or as it puts it here the score indicates significant or statistic traits so they clearly did not have an autistic person spell check it which this is actually more autistic talking through it out loud like this has made me more autistic in my responses than when I took it first which I got 34 so I'm really curious to see who is the closest guess in the comment and I'm also really curious to see what in D&E God as his score because I think the questions the more I work out what they're trying to get out with the questions and the less that I take the questions literally as they are written the more autistic I seem to become so I think the questions are really really badly written because autistic people will look at the details they will focus on one particular word like frequently well I don't do it frequently so that doesn't happen to you know so I'll downgrade my answer so I don't know if you thought that I interpreted the questions correctly or what I'm really interested to know what you think of the test and I would really love it if you went and checked out Indiana's video on this exact same topic I will link it right down here in the description box I hope you enjoy his channel as well it's my first kind of like mini lab so it's pretty exciting so thank you so much for watching this video I hope you enjoyed it and I will see you next time bye

Channel: Yo Samdy Sam

Views: 244,824

Rating: 4.924006 out of 5

Keywords: autistic quotient test, aq autism test, autism quotient, aq test, aq test online, autism test, autistic adult, indie andy, yo samdy sam, autistic adult takes the aq test, is the aq test accurate, autism adult, adult autism, am i autistic test, andy autism

Id: fiALXZKzm3g

Length: 23min 42sec (1422 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 08 2019