Table of Contents
Instructions:
Choose one response that best describes how strongly each item applies to you
| Definitely Agree | Slightly Agree | Slightly Disagree | Definitely Disagree | ||
| 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 |
I prefer to do things with others rather than on my own | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| I prefer to do things the same way over and over again | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| If I try to imagine something, I find it very easy to create a picture in my mind | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I frequently get so strongly absorbed in one thing that I lose sight of other things | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I often notice small sounds when others do not | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I usually notice car number plates or similar strings of information | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Other people frequently tell me that what I’ve said is impolite, even though I think it is polite | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| When I’m reading a story, I can easily imagine what the characters might look like | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I am fascinated by dates | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| In a social group, I can easily keep track of several different people’s conversations | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I find social situations easy | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I tend to notice details that others do not | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I would rather go to a library than a party | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I find making up stories easy | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I find myself drawn more strongly to people than to things | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I tend to have very strong interests, which I get upset about if I can’t pursue | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I enjoy social chit-chat | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Definitely Agree | Slightly Agree | Slightly Disagree | Definitely Disagree | ||
| 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 |
When I talk, it isn’t always easy for others to get a word in edgeways | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| I am fascinated by numbers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| When I’m reading a story, I find it difficult to work out the characters’ intentions. | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I don’t particularly enjoy reading fiction | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I find it hard to make new friends | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I notice patterns in things all the time | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I would rather go to the theatre than a museum | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| It does not upset me if my daily routine is disturbed | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I frequently find that I don’t know how to keep a conversation going | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I find it easy to “read between the lines” when someone is talking to me | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I usually concentrate more on the whole picture, rather than the small details | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I am not very good at remembering phone numbers | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I don’t usually notice small changes in a situation, or a person’s appearance | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I know how to tell if someone listening to me is getting bored | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I find it easy to do more than one thing at once | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| When I talk on the phone, I’m not sure when it’s my turn to speak | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I enjoy doing things spontaneously | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I am often the last to understand the point of a joke | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I find it easy to work out what someone is thinking or feeling just by looking at their face | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| If there is an interruption, I can switch back to what I was doing very quickly | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Definitely Agree | Slightly Agree | Slightly Disagree | Definitely Disagree | ||
| 38
39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 |
I am good at social chit-chat | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| People often tell me that I keep going on and on about the same thing | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| When I was young, I used to enjoy playing games involving pretending with other children | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I like to collect information about categories of things (e.g. types of car, types of bird, types of train, types of plant, etc.) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I find it difficult to imagine what it would be like to be someone else | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I like to plan any activities I participate in carefully | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I enjoy social occasions | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I find it difficult to work out people’s intentions | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| New situations make me anxious | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| I enjoy meeting new people | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I am a good diplomat | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I am not very good at remembering people’s date of birth | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| I find it very easy to play games with children that involve pretending | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Developer Reference:
Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Skinner, R., Martin, J., & Clubley, E. (2001). The autism-spectrum quotient (AQ): Evidence from asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism, males and females, scientists and mathematicians. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 31(1), 5-17.
The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) is a 50 item self-report measure used to assess traits of autism in adults and adolescents aged 16 years and over. The measure is suitable for men and women who have normal intellectual functioning. The AQ measures five symptom clusters important in understanding the profile of strengths and weaknesses for individuals with Autism:
- social skill
- attention switching
- attention to detail
- communication
- imagination.
The AQ is intended to be used to screen for autism spectrum and may make up a component of a thorough diagnostic assessment. A score above the proposed cutoff of 29 highlights significant traits of autism.
Validity and Reliability
The AQ was developed by Baron-Cohen and colleagues (2001). They administered the scale to adults with DSM-IV classified Asperger syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA) (Autism sample, N = 58) and to a control sample of randomly selected individuals from the community (N = 174). Psychometric analysis indicated adequate inter-rater and test-retest reliability. Internal consistency was moderate to high.
A cutoff score of 32+ was suggested in the original Baron-Cohen and colleagues (2001) article, and was found to distinguish the Autism Sample from the control Community Sample. Subsequent analysis by Broadbent and colleagues (2013) found that a cutoff score of 29+ had a 14.4% false negative rate, and a less than 1% false positive rate. This analysis suggest the optimal cutoff score is 29.
Data for gender related norms are provided for the sample of adults with autism and the community sample (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001). Men with autism have an average score of 35.1 (SD = 6.9), while the mean score for women with autism is 38.1 (SD = 4.4).
Interpretation and Scoring
Items are summed to obtain an overall total score and scores for each of the five subscales. Higher scores indicate responses that are more consistent with autism traits.
A total score of 29 or more is indicative of clinically significant autism traits (Broadbent, et al., 2013). Using the cut-off score of 29 has a false positive rate of 1%, however will fail to identify 14.4% of people who actually do meet the diagnostic criteria for DSM-5 defined Autism Spectrum Disorder.
The total score and subscale scores are also represented as percentiles for comparison to gender specific norms for the Autism Sample and the Community Sample (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001).
Percentiles compared to the Autism Sample compares the respondent’s score to people who have been diagnosed with Autism, where a percentile of 50 indicates typical scores for someone with Autism.
For men, a total score of 29 corresponds to a percentile compared to the male autism sample of 18.9 and a percentile of 95 compared to the male community sample.
For women, a total score of 29 corresponds to a percentile compared to the female autism sample of 1.9 and a percentile of 99.1 compared to the female community sample.
Five subscales are presented, with higher scores on each subscale indicate more neurodivergence in each area. For example, high scores on social skills indicates more social skills deficits, and high scores on attention to detail indicates an atypical focus on details. The following items are summed to obtain scores for each of the subscales:
- Social skill: items 1,11,13,15,22,36,44,45, 47,48
- Attention switching: items 2,4,10,16,25,32,34, 37,43,46
- Attention to detail: items 5,6,9,12,19,23,28, 29,30,49
- Communication: items 7,17,18,26,27,31,33, 35,38,39
- Imagination items: 3,8,14,20,21,24,40,41,42,50
Developer:
Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Skinner, R., Martin, J., & Clubley, E. (2001). The autism-spectrum quotient (AQ): Evidence from asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism, males and females, scientists and mathematicians. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 31(1), 5-17.
References:
Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Skinner, R., Martin, J., & Clubley, E. (2001). The autism-spectrum quotient (AQ): Evidence from asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism, males and females, scientists and mathematicians. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 31(1), 5-17.
Broadbent, J., Galic, I., & Stokes, M. A. (2013). Validation of autism spectrum quotient adult version in an Australian sample. Autism research and treatment, 2013.