*sighs*

[conuly]

*reads the comments*

Every time. EVERY TIME somebody finds this and takes the test, their friends take it too - and then pop up with their results, asking "what does this mean"? Look. Unless your score was very high (above 35) it doesn't mean anything. There's a reason the AQ test isn't used for diagnostic purposes. It is completely possible to be NT and get a fairly high score. It's possible to be on the spectrum and score under the mystical cut-off of 32. It's possibly even possible to be on the spectrum and get a relatively low score. The numbers don't mean anything by themselves. If you're really curious about what your score means, get a book or an internet connection or something and research the autistic spectrum instead of asking "what does this mean, what does this mean". Nobody can tell you what a score of 17, or 20, or 26 means.

*sits and waits to be told what those scores mean*

Comments

[cumaeansibyl.livejournal.com]

Haha, a friend just took it and is now wailing that she's "slow" because she got a 27. Pfft.

[conuly]

Slow? *glares at thy friend*

[cumaeansibyl.livejournal.com]

She said she had a high IQ, but that was meaningless because she was "slow," which is worse than dumb.

Don't worry, I thwacked her about a bit:

Now WAIT A MINUTE. Autism has nothing to do with being "slow." Hell, a lot of autistic people are really smart. If you're talking about the implied social impairment... feh. Whatever.

By the way, there are some things you should know:

1) This is not recognized as a diagnostic tool in any way, shape or form
2) The "borderline" score is a 32, and that only means that you might have a touch of Asperger's
3) I got a 32

So don't complain.

[cumaeansibyl.livejournal.com]

Oh, and most autistic people's IQs are between 30 and 60.

I think someone's got a narrow definition of autism here.

[conuly]

Narrow and wrong. But you clearly know that.

[cumaeansibyl.livejournal.com]

Eh, you seem to have an IQ of at least 80, so... :)

Got any shiny reputable-looking sites I can throw at her? She's... well, she's a psych major. Fortunately she's neuro-psych and not clinical psych, but still.

[conuly]

Y'know, I'm sure somebody does... Of course, the sad fact is that some people, you can't convince. If they decide that AS isn't autism, they'll then say that every autistic who can talk, or who clearly isn't retarded "doesn't really have autism".

[celticess.livejournal.com]

Good lord I'm considered gifted and my score is 43... your friend needs to get over it. I know someone with an IQ of 150 that probably would score a point or two difference from me. Another one with an IQ of 200. They are autistics and they aren't slow, backwards, or whatever other stereotype people try to throw at autistics.