Autism Test

[Human Mint]

9 hours ago, Joshe said:

A more accurate test: RAADS-R (https://embrace-autism.com/raads-r/)

Masking test: CAT-Q (https://embrace-autism.com/cat-q/)

 

RAADS-R: 56 / 240 from a cutoff of 65 and...

CAT-Q: 66 / 175 of a 100+ threshold.

But I went through a period of loner wolf though, and that makes you forget a lot of social clues which can make you think you have some sort of personality condition.

Now I constantly look for social interactions. Few people consider periods of isolation as a natural thing, for me it was completely normal and necessary. But this kind of pattern is very different from autism.

It also feels like I've avoided tons of unnecessary baggage that I see people constantly engaging with. Things that I was carrying before and I learned to operate without it.

Edited Wednesday at 11:44 AM by Human Mint

[Alexop]

On 02/11/2026 at 8:56 PM, Jordan said:

I find it fun to still connect with people where they are at. Clearly there is no point in pointing out where they are wrong or tell them what they should be doing instead unless they are very open minded and specifically asking for it. You can still find out what they like and why they make the decisions they do and let their own self awareness help them to see if they can admit there is probably a better way to go about getting what they want.

Yes. You basically have to play double agent as a serious philosopher. Talk children stuff with children, while keeping adult talk for yourself until you meet adults.

This lesson was a harsh one for me. I just didn't want to accept that this is the case. I used to call out on these ideas for being a cynical way to see the world. But unfortunately this is the case and reality taught me this lesson the hard way.

Edited Wednesday at 02:42 PM by Alexop

[eos_nyxia]

I cannot see at all how this test would be particularly good for any combination of the following:

1. Women/ girls who entirely missed getting a diagnosis while growing up. Up until quite recently, there was an overwhelmingly strong bias in the field against anything which does not tend to present as male-coded autistic traits. (Examples: having your special interests be related to systems, machines, or numbers, niche interests which generally look weird to outsiders, stereotypical stimming behaviour such as arm-flapping). Which leads to my next point:
2. Masking/ "high functioning" (last time I checked, the online community hates the latter term...). Try being female, neurodivergent, and not being able to mask with the gender-specific social expectations placed on us since a young age -- it's not very fun. One of the expectations is that we be good (or at least "better") at socializing and also to be better behaved and less disruptive (e.g. meltdowns), especially in a large group such as a class. Unraveling deep-rooted, often unconscious masking tendencies and the baggage that comes with it is a whole-ass personal development project -- even just understanding the toll this takes on both your physical body and consciousness.
3. AuDHD (a combination of ADHD + autism, which often manifest as opposing traits, as if you are being pulled from the inside from different directions. For example: desire for routine vs. novelty. But it also manifests as compounding traits, such as general executive function struggles and sensory sensitivities) 
4. Then there is the whole mess with if and how neurodivergence manifests with classical giftedness. A lot of information in this field (the latter I think is mainly only the domain of Education as an academic field of study, as far as I know) is REALLY SUSS for various reasons. (example: parents who are very, very insistent that their children are definitely gifted, but absolutely not neurodivergent, especially autistic...  at all. Are they trying to avoid social stigma both inside and outside their own head, or do they actually, truly know the reality of their child?)  

I spent a good amount of time and energy researching this, as I wondered if I am someone who missed diagnosis growing up, though I would have been considered too socially competent and """normal""" from an outsider's perspective. From the inside: I worked out the rules of socialization pretty young to the point where I probably could have written a rulebook about it, but it was also a top priority to me; I'm pretty sure no middle-school aged child wants to be a loser with no friends. After that point, I rejected feminine social conformity on a deep level, while still continuing to present as feminine. (I did a flip at 14 and decided everyone else who cared that much were losers themselves, lol.)

I have a ton of lifelong sensory sensitivities (which is one factor that strongly overlaps with classical giftedness), but less of the other obvious, visible "downsides" (both due to what intrinsically presents but also due to masking). For example, a lot of autistic people have EDS, but I'm subclinical according to my Beighton Score, even if it's just by 1 point. For what it's worth though, the joints that are measured in this test aren't even my most hypermobile areas (like hips and ankles), but I am definitely hypermobile.  (If you are curious, you can take the test here: https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/assessing-joint-hypermobility/)

For what it is worth, these days I often think of myself as having a similar neurotype. The neurotype itself is not really inherently positive nor negative, but there are intrinsic strengths and weaknesses which tend to either be brought out or lay dormant depending on what kind of environment and society you grow up in). And other people might judge it one way or another, but there is no intrinsic value to it either way (which is to say that I don't inherently view it as a mental illness). But in order for society and others to help bring out the best in whatever your neurotype happens to be (developing your strengths, helping you discover and nurture both what you love and what would be of service to the world, and rounding out your weaknesses) it would be best if that society was NOT violently judgemental against people who are deemed too different and too inconvenient to be worth the effort to understand, because society was never built for people with fringe cognitive preferences and needs.

Anyway, I identify as neurodivergent, which at least is not debatable at all. I see stuff. I've seen stuff since I was a preteen and it's only gotten stronger since then when I choose to let it be that way. Nothing neuro-normal about that, haha. 

 

Where I live, it's an absolute pain in the ass and in the wallet to get diagnosed as an adult, and for what purpose, exactly?

 

Edited 15 hours ago by eos_nyxia