Anyone involved with geeks will know that we share many character traits with those suffering Asperger syndrome: obsessive attention to detail, social awkwardness, and some difficulty relating to other people. A few years ago, I ran across a test used to diagnose Asperger syndrome, and was surprised to note that it seems like a thumbnail description of your average geek.

Being a geek, I decided to port the test from dead trees to PHP and Javascript. You can find your AQ by filling in the form below.

Note: This test has been developed using Firefox 2.x and tested on IE7. If you are not using one of those browsers, and hey, even if you are: caveat typor. There has been at least one report of Safari users being unable to see their results.

Questions answered: 0/50

What's your AQ?

Cambridge psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen and others designed this test, published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2001. This test was devised from a Globe and Mail article.

Choose your response to each question: Definitely agree, slightly agree, slightly disagree or definitely disagree.

  1. I prefer to do things with others rather than on my own.
  2. I prefer to do things the same way over and over again.
  3. If I try to imagine something, I find it very easy to create a picture in my mind.
  4. I frequently get so strongly absorbed in one thing that I lose sight of other things.
  5. I often notice small sounds when others do not.
  6. I usually notice car number plates or similar strings of information.
  7. Other people frequently tell me that what I've said is impolite, even though I think it is polite.
  8. When I'm reading a story, I can easily imagine what the characters might look like.
  9. I am fascinated by dates.
  10. In a social group, I can easily keep track of several different people's conversations.
  11. I find social situations easy.
  12. I tend to notice details that others do not.
  13. I would rather go to a library than a party.
  14. I find making up stories easy.
  15. I find myself drawn more strongly to people than to things.
  16. I tend to have very strong interests, which I get upset about if I can't pursue.
  17. I enjoy social chitchat.
  18. When I talk, it isn't always easy for others to get a word in edgeways.
  19. I am fascinated by numbers.
  20. When I'm reading a story, I find it difficult to work out the characters' intentions.
  21. I don't particularly enjoy reading fiction.
  22. I find it hard to make new friends.
  23. I notice patterns in things all the time.
  24. I would rather go to the theatre than a museum.
  25. It does not upset me if my daily routine is disturbed.
  26. I frequently find that I don't know how to keep a conversation going.
  27. I find it easy to "read between the lines" when someone is talking to me.
  28. I usually concentrate more on the whole picture rather than the small details.
  29. I am not very good at remembering phone numbers.
  30. I don't usually notice small changes in a situation, or a person's appearance.
  31. I know how to tell if someone listening to me is getting bored.
  32. I find it easy to do more than one thing at once.
  33. When I talk on the phone, I'm not sure when it's my turn to speak.
  34. I enjoy doing thing spontaneously.
  35. I am often the last to understand the point of a joke.
  36. I find it easy to work out what someone is thinking or feeling just by looking at their face.
  37. If there is an interruption, I can switch back to what I was doing very quickly.
  38. I am good at social chitchat.
  39. People often tell me that I keep going on and on about the same thing.
  40. When I was young, I used to enjoy playing games involving pretending with other children.
  41. I like to collect information about categories of things (types of cars, types of birds, types of trains, types of plants, etc.).
  42. I find it difficult to imagine what it would be like to be someone else.
  43. I like to plan any activities I participate in carefully.
  44. I enjoy social occasions.
  45. I find it difficult to work out people's intentions.
  46. New situations make me anxious.
  47. I enjoy meeting new people.
  48. I am a good diplomat.
  49. I am not very good at remembering other people's date of birth.
  50. I find it very easy to play games with children that involve pretending.

The test assesses five different areas. Autistic-like responses will show poor social skill, attention switching, communication and imagination, and an exaggerated attention to detail. In other words, geekiness. You scored XXX. The ranking below provides some idea of where that AQ fits in.

Score
32 - 50 Scores over 32 are generally taken to indicate Asperger's Syndrome or high-functioning autism, with more than 34 an "extreme" score.
   31  
   30  
   29  
   28  
   27  
   26  
   25  
   24 Average math contest winner
   23  
   22  
   21 Average male or female computer scientist
   20  
   19 Average male scientist, and average male or female physicist
   18 Average man
   17 Average female scientist
   16  
   15 Average woman, and average male or female biologist
   14  
   13  
0 - 12  

Disclaimer

This test is designed for fun. It is not meant to test you for any disorder (real or imagined). You can't glean anything meaningful from this test without consulting with a mental health professional. It is not intended to make light of those who are suffering from autism or Aspergers syndrome. If you are worried about your mental health, see a professional.
Comments (1,153)

1,153 Responses to “Asperger Test (AQ Test)”

  1. 2008.May.12 @ 10:45

    (49)WOOW I ALWAYS KNEW I WAS A LITTLE DIFFERENT AND IDIOSYNCRATIC BUT I DON’T WANT A CURE I AM ME LOL

  • 2008.May.13 @ 15:35

    Ugh, 31. I’m on the thin border of being Autistic and normal…..

  • 2008.May.13 @ 22:15

    My son is an Aspie–I’m not sure he would take a test this long that has so many “iffy” questions. He would say, “It could be…OR…”

  • 2008.May.14 @ 02:15

    42. Yes, there are some romantic qualities to being labeled an Aspie… but honestly… it often sucks to have your inner self/emotional needs completely mismatched with the only means of audible expression… you people and your damned words!!!!! Thank God for texts and internet messengers. I fear that even if there is genius locked away in here, only the tip of that “genius iceberg” could ever be revealed if my only means of expelling its existence from my mind is in words. Well, at least that’s true in most opportunities given me. Unfortunately, in this world… first impressions are everything…. which doesn’t really work in my favor, since I tend to attempt to evade any “first social encounters”… Yah…

  • 2008.May.14 @ 04:58

    I am not impressed by this test questions because it leaves too much open to interpretation but then again I scored 35… :)

  • 2008.May.14 @ 19:03

    Wow I scored 15

  • 2008.May.15 @ 07:14

    I found this interesting

  • 2008.May.15 @ 16:14

    i got 15 and im a 15 year old girl :) sounds good to me:p

  • 2008.May.16 @ 05:31

    I got 38 which is apparently kinda bad. I’m rather wrorried about this now.

  • 2008.May.16 @ 05:43

    I got 30 which is okay, RYAN STILES RULES!!!!Sorry that was apperently my “geekiness” showing through.

  • 2008.May.16 @ 05:44

    38!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What the hell? I do not have a type of autism!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t have a type of autism¬!!!!!!!!!!! this is simply a sign of how geeky i am

  • 2008.May.16 @ 06:39

    I scored 50! Still undiagnosed…

  • 2008.May.16 @ 17:00

    I was recently diagnosed with aspergers. I went through tons of tests including EEG’s catscans and an awful MRI that took a whole 90 minutes. I was also asked 200 questions by my nuerologist and psychiatrist which was ranked 1-200… 200 being the highest score for autism. I scored a 170 on it and a 40 on this test. This is a good over view and I believe its accurte. If you score over a 32 on this you should seek professional help if you are concerned.

  • 2008.May.16 @ 20:09

    I had 24. lol

  • 2008.May.17 @ 16:30

    37, is that good or bad? Ó.Ò

  • 2008.May.17 @ 20:25

    37. Typical engineer.

  • 2008.May.17 @ 21:23

    I got 30 and I am diagnosed Asperger’s. This test is too vague. There needs to be more degrees of answer than 4 and the questions need to be less bipolar.

  • 2008.May.18 @ 16:11

    OMG I GOT A 7! COOOL! …Then why aren’t I more popular?!?!?

  • 2008.May.19 @ 00:15

    It’s 26 for me. I think my nervousness comes from something else. I don’t remember answering any questions considering anything to do with
    harrassment and bullying, something I know scared my psych for years to come. It wasn’t until my mid-20′s that I finally started to lose some of
    my shyness. I also found the lack of answers like “Neutral” or “Non Applicable” limited my ability to answer the questions as honestly as
    possible.

    Can you tell I have the symptom of pointing out details? xD

  • 2008.May.19 @ 10:09

    i got 36, sorta expected a higher number.

  • 2008.May.19 @ 16:15

    Hello there, I got 33 on my 1st try xD But I doubt that’s a bad thing xD I mean, most people think Asperger (in an adult) is more a way of living than a disorder :P But bleh~ who cares.

  • 2008.May.19 @ 21:06

    32. Self-diagnosed aspie, I work from home, away from other people. It’s not that I don’t like people, the thing is I never understand them. They don’t understand me. So we get cross wires and it all gets very upsetting. I try to be friends, I want to be friends. I have just never managed to ever say the right things when I should, or shut up when I should.

  • 2008.May.19 @ 22:28

    44. and i’ve always been told that i’m on the more socially well-adjusted end of math profs. then again, i did point out to my students that april 16 this year, ie 4/16/8, could also be written as 4/4*4/4+4 or even better: 2^2/2^2^2/2*2*2 :) and ooh! look! my score of 44 is just riddled with 2′s … okay, so i’m a screaming geek and have fun with it. i don’t see why that makes me autistic, though.

  • 2008.May.20 @ 14:45

    I got 10. does that mean I failed? :[

  • 2008.May.20 @ 18:21

    49. A friend googled some of my ‘bizarre habits’ and aspergers syndrome was the result. Now I’m actually quite worried. Surely I would have already been diagnosed if this is true?

  • 2008.May.20 @ 19:50

    30. Maths grad. Database specialist. Not bad :]

  • 2008.May.20 @ 20:09

    I got a 32, I’ve been taking these tests on a regular basis since I was 16 on various sites, this is normally my score and I’m now thinking of getting a proper diagnosis (versus teachers and doctors making assumptions) because I’m tired of feeling painfully different.

  • 2008.May.21 @ 04:26

    48 for me. That explains alot. I always wondered why I obsessed over the slightest thing, couldn’t handle social events or friends and had massive issues understanding how a relationship actually works. My brain wiring has always been different to other peoples, even fellow crazy female scientists. May look into this a bit further….

  • 2008.May.21 @ 20:47

    40.
    This does not surprise me.

  • 2008.May.22 @ 14:30

    29 –

    Well I’m a programmer ;D I should’ve been higgger, but since I’m diagnosticated with depression it may not be that weird.

  • 2008.May.25 @ 19:15

    32. Starting to suspect I might have it!

  • 2008.May.26 @ 04:38

    19~20 & 22 the 2nd try, but I was diagnosed with it, but I took an ADHD test and it said I had that. Was the diagnosis wrong?

    -Thanks
    (j.acob@hotmail.com

  • 2008.May.26 @ 06:59

    46. Until recently, I was classified a mental patient difficult to diagnose. I feel and know I am an Aspie. Maybe I have an mental illness as well, which may influence the high score.

  • 2008.May.27 @ 05:56

    44 No real surprise, i’ve done other tests like this. I’m over 50, female, undiagnosed, came to find out about AS thru a job i had, and realized it was me. Not happy with this at first, as my only experience of autism was when working with IH children in the 70′s – “I’m not a retard!” was my thought! Learnt a lot since then of course. To those who feel alone, reach out, find the online communities, there’s plenty out there. And relating online is far easier than talking to someone face to face, for real!!
    If I have any problems with this test (and some others) it’s the vagueness of the questions. For instance, reading fiction – let me qualify here, I answered yes to this, but it depends on the type of fiction, sci-fi/fantasy,some murder mysteries, a few adventure stories I like, but ‘general’ fiction, romantic fiction etc bores me no end. I suspect if there was a separate question ‘Do you enjoy reading sc-fi and/or fantasy fiction?’, the yes answers would shoot way up!!!
    I don’t fit the ‘typical’ Aspie profile, not just thru being female. I had great trouble with maths at school, i’ve finally figured out it was because i couldn’t visualize it, and I am a very visual learner/person (artist, writer, etc). And there are other ways i don’t fit, yet there are other characteristics so strong, i have to accept it, even without a formal diagnosis.

  • 2008.May.27 @ 07:18

    scored 41. I’ve often wondered if I have AS, now I might get properly tested.

  • 2008.May.27 @ 19:06

    wow …34……well i allways thought i was diffrent.

  • 2008.May.27 @ 19:20

    An Aspie friend suggesting that I might be Aspie too. I scored 39, and found myself identifying a lot with what other who scored on the higher side were writing. It’s something that I definitely want to look into — if I am Aspie, it would explain a lot of things. Thanks for putting this test online.

  • 2008.May.28 @ 08:56

    I did this test twice, a couple of days apart. I got a 38 and a 39….
    I guess I need to look into this more.
    For what it’s worth, the lowest I’ve gotten on an IQ test was 141, with several tests getting higher.

  • 2008.May.28 @ 21:08

    Two years ago I scored over 40.

    Today I have scored as 17.

    From great effort springs great improvement.

  • 2008.May.30 @ 17:28

    23? I struggled getting a B in Algebra 2!

  • 2008.May.30 @ 17:35

    Wow, 39 is my score. But no-one in my circle of friends or of colleagues believe that I might have Asperger’s. My parents and myself have always thought there was something autistic lurking.

    And that is why I think the test is very good. The test goes beyond behaviour. It asks whether the subject feels comfortable or uncomfortable in certains situations or whether he likes certain types of games, etc. It does not stress behaviour itself. People with AS have usually managed to behave like neurotypical persons. Particularly the people who are good impersonators or imitators can see nuances in behaviour and they are able to absorb and repeat normal behaviour and ideas. But the feelings, the likes and the dislikes remain the same.

    And what goes on in the mind is what indicates the autistic character.

  • 2008.May.30 @ 18:35

    Uh 46? Maybe I am having a bad day. My job is driving me crazy. I have an AS assessment coming up in the near future however.

  • 2008.May.30 @ 18:50

    i scored 34. i do struggle in all social situations and it does make me miserable. i find it very difficult to chat to women and always end up with awkward silences. other people seem able to keep a conversation going. i never can.

  • 2008.May.31 @ 10:38

    Hmmm, I tried this test about a years ago when suffering from fairly serious depression. I scored 36 then. Now I’m on mild meds, employed, kind of smitten & relatively happy. I scored 29. I found this quite interesting. Oh, and yes, I am such a geek. Cheers for the test.

  • 2008.Jun.01 @ 14:18

    24, then 27 a few months later. Not a surprise. When I first learned about Asperger’s, it was intereting, and it did seem to answer a few questions, but the “autism spectrum” part and a few other things made me think “impossible.” However, learning more about it, I realized that with above-average intelligence, it was possible, and as I said, I’m just literal enough, have just enough need for sameness, have just enough trouble knowing how to communicate…so to find myself smack dab in between the averge NT and 80% of all Aspies is quite expected.

    Plus, I have a *tiny* bit of cerebral palsy, not enough to keep me from walking, just enough so I didn’t develop the muscle tone to do things quite as well. It looks like my CP has a match, as it would be of the same amount.

  • 2008.Jun.01 @ 17:57

    39

    I think I’ve done too many of these tests. (Damn it took me four times to spell “tests” right)

  • 2008.Jun.02 @ 20:54

    I scored a 10?
    If I’m not a geek then what the hell am I? I play RPGs, I play miniature wargames, I play both computer and console games, I watch anime and read manga, and I spend practically all of my time in front of my computer. Heck, I even do historical re-enacting. If I’m not a geek, then what do I have left to cling to? *whimper*

  • 2008.Jun.03 @ 11:13

    I got 36. I think I would have scored higher but I’ve learned not to obsess on certain things and I may have a bit more social ease than some. Still, an interesting test and score. Thanks!

  • 2008.Jun.03 @ 22:37

    40

    Ha! I was going to send this test to my ex as I’m sure he has AS, but figured I should try the test myself first. Initially I was surprised with my high score, but the more I think about it I’m not surprised. The signs are all there… Over the years (I’m 54) I’ve become more and more reclusive. I prefer to work alone. I’d rather be at home alone than socializing. I don’t like sports as I’ve always been a clumsy clutz. Although I do enjoy many type of fiction.

  • 2008.Jun.04 @ 11:48

    I scored 34, being previously aware that I HAVE the syndrome from the very childhood. Only recently, when I learned about AS, I got to terms with myself, having received the information that I needed to explain all my relationships from the early childhood as well as through the whole adulthood. Today I told the first person, my nearest colleague about my special syndrome. He did not resent me. So don’t you.