What do these scores mean?

EQ 38
CAT-Q 122
RAADS-R 80 (social relatedness 41)
AQ 22
SQ 63
ASRS 9

Thank you
SB

Hi Snookie- it's good to see you about.

I'm not sure what each of them are without googling them, except that I know that the CAT-Q is about camoflaging behaviours in autism- I had one done as part of my own assessement.

Are these assessements you've had done by someone? Did they give you any information about your scores, and where they fall with regard to what the averages for autistic/non-autistic people are? My report included my scores, and the averages and a brief explanation of what each of the tools they used measure.

Hi Lilyfairy

It's been a long time. The forum has changed.

These scores are self tests. I ran the figures through AI. Some land just inside the range for autism. But my CAT-Q score for masking is quite high, which apparently means the other scores should be seen through that lens.

I'm not sure I want to rely on AI, but some of the traits would marry up. But I am aware most of us are seeking that label/reason why we are the way we are.

Autism is something I've never encountered as a potential diagnosis. There's potentially a lot that would make sense

The forum has changed a lot to what it was.

Autism was never something I'd encountered before as a potential diagnosis either. For some reason I felt offended when it was first suggested. The psychologist I was dealing with at the time- the big thing I remember him saying about it when he suggested it, was how in the time I'd been seeing him- at that point about 7 years, I'd made very little improvement. I was so resistant to CBT, and I wasn't trying to be, it just never did anything for me except make my issues feel like they were being trivialised. Like, how was thinking positively supposed to change anything? Or trying to change things that weren't really changeable. And that the thought is now that my depression and anxiety are a result of trying to fit in a world I don't quite fit into, rather than being the thing that needs to be fixed.

I don't really trust what AI says (I've seen it totally contradict itself in the space of a single sentence, and know someone who found it quoting an academic document that didn't exist), but I do think it would be worth looking into further. One thing I did find really helpful after diagnosis was finding books written by other women with autism. There were a lot of things that finally made sense. I had my diagnosis done by a female psychologist who was trained to diagnose autism in women who mask very highly- I think I stumbled on the right person there because if it wasn't them seeing through my masking, it could have been missed- it has been missed for the past 40 years.

Whether you seek a diagnosis or just information is totally up to you- I got it so I could get more disability support, but some people are happy to just go "yeah, this is me".

It was suggested to me, and came as a surprise. So I ran the tests. I asked two different AIs and both indicated I could be late diagnosed highly masking autistic.

Some of the traits fit:

Social rules don’t come instinctively; I think, script, replay, plan conversations even talk the out loud before

Very intense inner world (feelings/thoughts at 0 or 100). Very sensitive to any perceived rejection

Long, deep interests that take over for years at a time

Socialising drains me fast; I need a lot of recovery alone

High masking → competence on the outside, burnout inside. CAT-Q score backs this up.

Strong justice sensitivity; unfairness really gets under my skin

Often feel slightly “out of sync” socially without knowing why. Genuinely not know how to act or the right thing to do.

Lifelong tomboy; never fitted stereotypical female social norms. I Actively avoid very girly things and girls situations.

Noise overwhelms me; sensory overload is mostly internal

Mistakes or perceived rejection hit hard

This has been there since childhood; anxiety/trauma sit on top of it

It all seems a bit too perfect. It's alluring. As you said, I've had lots of treatment that hasn't worked. Perhaps, as I've heard it described, it's my wiring - I'm trying to run Windows on a Mac!

I'm still unsure what to do. I'm in UK so very long waiting lists. And I'm likely to get filtered out due to fact I seem to function.

Thoughts?

I relate to a lot of what you describe. I had a long wait in Australia to get testing done and had to see private psychologists. Between the Autism and then an ADHD assessment and now a psych to see about ADHD meds, it's cost me over $4000, which is an awful lot. And was about 12 months waiting, even then I got in on a cancellation which I dropped everything for.

I would say it's been life changing though to get that validation. The biggest thing I've been coming to terms with (I was diagnosed mid-2024), is "It's not my fault". For years I was told by therapists that I wasn't trying hard enough to get better, that I needed to try harder. The meds that endlessly failed over the years due to being extremely sensitive to their side effects (they were intolerable), that I needed to try harder and push through them- I just couldn't. So to have people now who work around the autism and see how much I struggle and make accommodations (sometimes as simple as a quieter space) is really helpful. It's explained why other people seem to manage life so much more easily, where my world comes crashing down as soon as I get overwhelmed by what sometimes seems like the most stupidly simple things.

snookiebookie wrote:Noise overwhelms me; sensory overload is mostly internal

I've have attached to my handbag a bundle with noise cancelling earbuds, and three different types of earplugs for different situations. Still haven't found the ideal for work days, but getting there. The less noise and overwhelm I deal with, the less meltdowns I have and it also means it doesn't affect my chronic fatigue quite as badly- the difference between coming home tired or totally exhausted and needing to crash.

snookiebookie wrote:I'm still unsure what to do. I'm in UK so very long waiting lists. And I'm likely to get filtered out due to fact I seem to function.

Even if the waiting list is long, getting on it is better than waiting for it to get shorter. And I'd take along that self-scored CAT-Q result with you. The high and low "functioning" labels are not as relevant today as what they once were. Because functioning levels change depending on what you're dealing with right now and how well you mask your symptoms. Women are known to mask more highly. Sure, I can go to town and do the groceries, and work one day a week in a busy people-facing environment, but they don't see me when I crash afterwards, or that it takes days to recover from those things. I come home and need to hide with my noise cancelling headphones on to block out everything. Sure I made a phone call this morning, but it's taken me three weeks to talk myself into doing it. They still rate your symptoms on a scale of severity, but there are multiple categories and you might be a level 1 on some (mild), and a level 3 on others (severe). Everyone's scores look different.