Those assessment tests

[Neia]

What if I sometimes don't know what to answer?
Some questions stump me a bit.

The Raads-r questionnaire asks if for me the texture of food is more important than flavour but doesn't have the right answer for me to choose from. Sometimes texture is important, but others taste is more important. It depends on the type of food.

A bowl of beef stew might be seasoned to perfection (not tasting like meat at all) but then the texture of the meat is off and I'll just want to spit it out.
In the same way, a bowl of yogurt might have the right silky texture, but taste of something like papaia, and I won't be able to eat it because I hate even the smell of papaia.

I get stuck on those questions...

 

[Neia]

And now comes the restaurant question...
Seriously... Every time I am given an option, I'll stay home. Why would I want to go to a noisy, smelly restaurant?

 

[vergil96]

Perhaps they are hard to fill out without a professional. I would answer "no" to many questions if not for my therapist explaining what it can mean in practice. For me it looks more like IBS. I don't think about textures or smells, some foods just make me sick on the stomach or I'm I think I'm more sensitive to smell than an average person and some food smell so bad that I won't eat them or it would be unbearable to do. There are many foods I cant eat for many different reasons.

I'd rather go to a restaurant, because they will make the food, I guess. Noisy and crowded - no, I hate it. My therapist also pointed it out that experiencing anxiety even to the point of panic attacks due to crowds and noise is an autistic thing.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

What if I sometimes don't know what to answer?
Some questions stump me a bit.

The Raads-r questionnaire asks if for me the texture of food is more important than flavour but doesn't have the right answer for me to choose from. Sometimes texture is important, but others taste is more important. It depends on the type of food.

A bowl of beef stew might be seasoned to perfection (not tasting like meat at all) but then the texture of the meat is off and I'll just want to spit it out.
In the same way, a bowl of yogurt might have the right silky texture, but taste of something like papaia, and I won't be able to eat it because I hate even the smell of papaia.

I get stuck on those questions...

LIfe as an Aspie, NT's are linear we are non linear, My issue the parameters for answers are too confining. Was issue when getting assessed after stroke drove assessor nuts, through she enjoyed it never before somebody like me.

 

[Tom]

I have the same problem with many of the questions. One possibility is the tests are just poorly designed, by people who either don't want to put in the necessary work or don't understand the subject enough to begin with. Or it may be that autism does not lend itself to be detectable by tests. It is also often easy to see which answers they consider most autistic and so easily manipulated to get the result you want.

But in answer to your question, you don't. What you want is a quiet nice smelling place.

 

[Neia]

Perhaps they are hard to fill out without a professional. I would answer "no" to many questions if not for my therapist explaining what it can mean in practice. For me it looks more like IBS. I don't think about textures or smells, some foods just make me sick on the stomach or I'm I think I'm more sensitive to smell than an average person and some food smell so bad that I won't eat them or it would be unbearable to do. There are many foods I cant eat for many different reasons.

I'd rather go to a restaurant, because they will make the food, I guess. Noisy and crowded - no, I hate it. My therapist also pointed it out that experiencing anxiety even to the point of panic attacks due to crowds and noise is an autistic thing.

Going to the farmers' market does that to me. I feel so overwhelmed by it that I want to run and hide. Haven't been there in over 6 years. I do most of my groceries shopping online now.

 

[jsilver256]

These tests have high sensitivity and low specificity anyway.

 

[Misty Avich]

Usually when I take those tests most of my answers would be "it depends", even though that option isn't there. I guess they won't really come up with a very accurate result by all the answers being "it depends" but that's what it is.

 

[vergil96]

Tbh RAADS-R is the only test on which I score as autistic, but more than one doctor and my therapist disagree that I don't have autism.

 

[Outdated]

I think another reason I've never taken one of those tests is because for me the urge to write and tell them about how they got it wrong would be too strong to resist. In only 70,000 words or less.

 

[Neia]

Tbh RAADS-R is the only test on which I score as autistic, but more than one doctor and my therapist disagree that I don't have autism.

I've taken several different test, all I could find, and score as autistic in all. But I still want an oficial assessment.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Same issues with IQ tests multiple choice not enough choices.

 

[MNAus]

What if I sometimes don't know what to answer?
Some questions stump me a bit.

The Raads-r questionnaire asks if for me the texture of food is more important than flavour but doesn't have the right answer for me to choose from. Sometimes texture is important, but others taste is more important. It depends on the type of food.

A bowl of beef stew might be seasoned to perfection (not tasting like meat at all) but then the texture of the meat is off and I'll just want to spit it out.
In the same way, a bowl of yogurt might have the right silky texture, but taste of something like papaia, and I won't be able to eat it because I hate even the smell of papaia.

I get stuck on those questions...

My take from this is that your answer to that question is "no". It doesn't appear from what you said that it is generally more important. For me it is. Very important. I'm not super keen on trying new flavours, but actually would be able to if it wasn't for unknown textures. The idea of a weird texture of food gives me goosebumps. Makes me shudder and my teeth feel soft. It prevents me trying lots of foods and restricts my diet heavily.

My thought to those tests is that if there's not an answer that particularly jumps out at you, it's likely to be the "no" or "neither one nor the other" answer. I think you can try to overthink it. A couple of the questions are a bit odd (on dates, for example) but generally if you don't feel strongly, you have your answer. For example, IIRC there is a question on the theatre vs museum in there. I recall lots of people discussing: "well some days maybe, also depending on my mood, and what the show is". If that's how you feel, then you don't have a preference. For me it's not even a debate: museum every time. I can't ever imagine a reason i could possibly want to go to the theatre (for myself), to the point where I'd rather sit in the foyer and look at the wall opposite than watch people acting on stage.

 

[Neia]

My take from this is that your answer to that question is "no". It doesn't appear from what you said that it is generally more important. For me it is. Very important. I'm not super keen on trying new flavours, but actually would be able to if it wasn't for unknown textures. The idea of a weird texture of food gives me goosebumps. Makes me shudder and my teeth feel soft. It prevents me trying lots of foods and restricts my diet heavily.

My thought to those tests is that if there's not an answer that particularly jumps out at you, it's likely to be the "no" or "neither one nor the other" answer. I think you can try to overthink it. A couple of the questions are a bit odd (on dates, for example) but generally if you don't feel strongly, you have your answer. For example, IIRC there is a question on the theatre vs museum in there. I recall lots of people discussing: "well some days maybe, also depending on my mood, and what the show is". If that's how you feel, then you don't have a preference. For me it's not even a debate: museum every time. I can't ever imagine a reason i could possibly want to go to the theatre (for myself), to the point where I'd rather sit in the foyer and look at the wall opposite than watch people acting on stage.

To me the answer for the theatre vs museum would be neither. Depending on the museum I might like it, but not always.

I like open air archeology museums and history museums, but you wouldn't be able to convince me go to an art museum

And the answers to the food question were : never, before 16, only now, and in childhood and now.

I've had problems with texture and flavor of foods since forever.
For a while I wouldn't eat meat because the flavour disgusts me, but after becoming anemic and getting orders from my doctor to eat beef, I started eating it again. Drowned in the strongest spices possible

I have problems with crunchy foods, even some fruits. I hate the feeling i get when I bite those foods. But I can't stand very chewy foods either. It's all the way those foods make it feel like my teeth are being tickled in the most obnoxious way possible.

it's not an either or. To me it's both.

 

[Cutesie]

My thought to those tests is that if there's not an answer that particularly jumps out at you, it's likely to be the "no" or "neither one nor the other" answer. I think you can try to overthink it.

No way. Our criticism of the test questions is valid. Here's my answer to such a question. I didn't see this exact one on a test, but it's about the same as many of them:

"Do you do well at social functions?" Who is there? When did I last see them? What was our interaction like then? Do I know what to answer (based on my current circumstances) when asked what I'm doing with my life by every random acquaintance? How loud is it? What kind of music is playing? Is it too bright? Is it too dark (or worse, having colored lights)? Have I eaten recently and what did I eat? What side of the bed did I wake up on this morning? (Did I even sleep last night?) How many mood swings did I have since then? Is there a specific other activity that I'd rather be doing now? I really could go on and on.

For example, IIRC there is a question on the theatre vs museum in there. I recall lots of people discussing: "well some days maybe, also depending on my mood, and what the show is". If that's how you feel, then you don't have a preference.

They could just have "it depends" as a choice. Let them interpret it as a "no" for all we care. Don't make taking a test into torturous confusion. I just read online from someone who spent seven hours filling out a 45-minute questionnaire. If you're right, the least that they can do is to tell us what you said: "Answer 'no' if you're unsure."

A couple of days ago, I tried again to take a few of those tests. I managed, with difficulty, to do the AQ-10, the ASQ and the CAT-Q. When it came to the RAADS-R, I tried ten questions, then gave up in frustration.

I don't know if this is true, but I read that when they were developing the Ritvo, it was only autistics who made notes in the margins saying "it depends". This just tells you how wrong it is for NDs.

Then there are the questions asking me what other people think of me and my behavior. How should I know? It's not like they're telling me. My family seems to accept me as I am and, despite me asking them to, will not tell me when I'm being inappropriate.

The Ritvo is also specifically designed to uncover masking. I'm not aware of much of the masking that I've done and do. I definitely cannot answer those questions about what I was like as a child.

All of this assumes that we are supposed to be taking them alone. We do it because websites suggest that we should. The paper introducing the Ritvo states the test is only meant to be administered in view of, and with the participation of, the diagnosing clinician. They are supposed to use how the patient reacts to the questions as part of their determination.

@MNAus, this is an attack on the tests, not on you.