Autism Quotient, Autism Schmotient
posted Thursday October 28th, 2010
I asked a question on Facebook the other day:
I am curious: What do people think of this Autism Spectrum Quotient thing? I actually know people with autism, and find it a little — well, what do you think?
I got some long, thoughtful answers, but my favorite, frankly, came from my old friend Tim, who wrote, “Autism is the new black! Gimme! I’m waiting for the app.”
You might have to know Tim to appreciate this fully. Anyway. I am a little disturbed by the test and the flipness with which people are taking it and discussing. Autism is a really freaking serious thing, to a lot of people.
But as usual, I had to wonder if I was overreacting. So I emailed my friend Denise Resnik, who founded a large autism support group in metro Phoenix (and way beyond — the place is really a mini-city of services, check it out: autismcenter.org) and asked what she thought. She hadn’t heard of the test, which she immediately looked up. She took it as though she were her son, Matthew, who has autism, and responded that yeah, he (she) scored high.
As usual, Denise was a little too politic for my taste (hey, she’s got an organization to run, I get it) but she did point me to this video, which I have to share. Ignite, if you are unfamiliar, is an occasional event at which all kinds of people get up and give talks about all kinds of topics. Often the material leans toward more toward the whimsical or bizarre but here’s a video about how to raise a kid with autism. It’s excellent, and if you are interested in autism you’d be better spending a few minutes watching this than taking what I think is a silly test.
I agree, I thought it was stupid too. But I think a lot of things people spend time doing on facebook are silly. Thanks for sharing!
I, myself, took the test, as well as at least 20 of my closest friends. And we too discussed via ourselves on Facebook. But here is the thing. Out of all of us EVERY ONE OF US have either a child with Autism, or is on the spectrum ourselves and wanted to check the “reality” of the test. Truth be told, it was quite accurate with those we had take the test who were NOT on the spectrum and those who WERE, as myself. It is NOT meant to be a diagnosis. It’s just something people wonder about. As a mother of two children with Autism and being on the spectrum myself, I was surprised to see such accurate outcomes. When my boyfriend (who is typical) took the test, he was in the “normal” range. Go figure. And all the talk about Autism…..It is a BIG part of a parent coping and helping with the diagnosis. We NEED to talk about it to know that we are not alone. My boys are EVERYTHING to me. I am NOT ashamed that they have Autism. I am ashamed of how the other “typical” people sometimes treat them. So as the end, do I think that the test was over-rated and made too public? Yeah, it probably was…..BUT on the same note, it was good to see more people wanting to know more on AUTISM!
I run a large group for families affected with Autism…and what we have found is the test simply invites people to “think” and maybe even discuss what and how we interact…it can be a tool to discover our tendencies for extrovert, introvert, what captures focus, etc…and then dare we take the next step, and possibly imagine what the person with the ASD life actually experiences. It can be a tool for sensitivity. Though I am amused by the people who are “offended” by it and calling it stupid because they or a friend got a high score. I took the test as did my ASD son and his sister. Daughter and I got same score of 19, he got 41. Not a diagnostic tool for sure, but for us, it was a conversation piece for an 11 year old and 12 year old to “see” the differences and maybe even appreciate them. And my ASD son also noted that he wants to be social, it just makes him nervous and he doesn’t really get how to interact with people. Then again, I wonder, how many people do…is that why so many are on facebook…alot easier to interact there vs. face to face… or to text or to blog…etc
Robin and Jennifer — Thank you for your thoughtful responses! I have not taken the test — I looked at the questions and what people on FB were saying about their results (that’s the part that really annoyed me — they were so flip) and got frustrated. I am glad that the test has helped some people, though, and glad you shared the experiences. I do highly recommend the video I linked to, where a dad shares his experience of raising a son with autism. It’s funny, real and really great. The best of luck to both of you and your families!
What a great video! For those of us who have friends and family afflicted with autism, humor does go a long way in dealing with it, as does educating one’s self to the social behaviors of the autistic, e.g. the literalness, the mindblindness to other’s responses, the repetition and obsession with singular subjects. Once armed with info and a sense of humor, you can begin to relax and deal with things as they come.