ASD Self tests age bias self diagnosed asd?

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Anyone else think these these internet ASD tests are flawed because they don’t consider the age of the subject?
Questions like do you like parties? etc…

When I was younger although I had some friends, I enjoyed going out in hope of getting a girlfriend (unlikely) and drinking and having a good time.

These days at nearly 50, I have hardly any friends at all and socialising just doesn’t interest me as much, I probably would rather go to a library than a party.

Maybe the motivation for socialising was the drinking and meeting girls, so that makes me hidden autistic?

I don't think they're age biased or if they are that they're biased to the point that they invalidate or misinterpret someone's answers. I'm your age and I can only speak from personal experience but I scored "off the charts" on every online test I took. I also was told, not verbatim, but essentially that I scored off the charts in my autism assessment which in turn supported my diagnosis. I don't believe that means those tests are fail safe, but that's what happened in my case.

In regard to partying when you were younger. I did the same thing. I was a hormone with toes from age 14 to my early twenties and during those years I also partied, consumed alcohol and other things. Alcohol et al, good or bad, undeniably changed my personality to be more communicative which resulted in me dating, etc far more than I ever would have otherwise. I don't advocate that young people follow my path in that regard due to the dangers and potential harm involved. It would have been FAR better for me in retrospect to have tried harder to communicate with others naturally than the path I took.

To me they are flawed because they ask a lot of questions that don't apply. To wit:

Do you notice things that others don't? How the hell would I know what others notice?!

Would you notice if your friends need emotional support? Maybe, IF I had friends!

Do you develop romantic feelings for people that show interest in you? How the hell would I know if someone is showing interest in me?

Can you keep track of several conversations in social groups? Beats me. I don't GO to social groups.

Welcome to the forum.

Yes, I think you're right that there are likely to be biases, even for the self-reporting questionnaires which have been approved for use in clinical screening. At best, they are an indication that referral for a full assessment would have a higher likelihood of resulting in a diagnosis. Besides age, there are other possible biases, such as cultural ones; not all communities have the same social expectations, even for such supposedly "instinctive" things as eye contact. Dimensions of personality might also affect them; e.g. introversion/extroversion. The tests used for clinical screening are presumably validated by looking at how well they predict assessment outcomes - but when was this done?; with what cohort of patients?; what form of assessment?; etc.

But they're no different than any other kind of self-reporting test in those respects; they can never be perfect, which is why they only form one component of a formal diagnosis. If you score close to the tipping-point, such biases might come into play more, and less so if you score towards the extremes.

So they're a clue rather than anything definitive. Talking with other people on sites like this one can provide further clues; and for me, were the clincher in deciding that getting formally assessed, first suggested by a mental health counsellor, was worth doing - the questionnaires alone weren't enough to convince me.

I definitely take those tests with a grain of salt. As redrobin pointed out, it’s very difficult to know how one’s own internal state differs from others, and whether one’s own symptoms fall into the clinically significant range or not. That’s why my attitude towards self-diagnosis these days is that it’s not generally the best idea. Tests like these can help you conclude, “I may have this thing, I’ll see a doctor for confirmation” but they really can’t tell you, “yes you definitely have the thing, you may now declare your label to the world.”

I took a very similar test to the AQ six months ago or so to gauge my symptoms of ADHD due to my difficulty focusing and paying attention. The test told me I showed “strong indicators that are highly indicative of moderate to severe ADHD.” I went to get evaluated, and was told that it’s not ADHD, it’s a combination of persistent depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and PTSD. The subtle but significant overlap of symptoms between very different disorders is why the actual labeling of conditions in a person is best left up to professionals.

Some questions can be difficult to answer because they don't take into account other factors. Take the "Would you rather go to a party or museum?" question for example. Well, I've had negative experiences and have certain fears that contribute to my answer but aren't what they had in mind when they wrote this question.

In some museums there are statues with sensors that trigger a recording to play whenever someone walks past. Typically in the eyes of the statue, you can tell because there are small red dots sticking out where the pupils would usually be. So whenever I'm at a museum, I'm checking the eyes of all the statues and making sure that there isn't a recording machine near their feet. This is because I absolutely loathe being caught off guard by these sensor-activated statues. They make me jump and usually run away because my fight or flight kicks in. I have a phobia of dolls, so it makes sense that realistic looking statues with bright red dots in the middle of the sensors for eyes freak me out.

Stuffed animals make me uncomfortable because their eyes are pronounced and glaring. Even though I know that they are dead, I still instinctively feel afraid since part of my brain is screaming danger, why are you so close to dangerous wild animals? They've seen you! Oh no, we're going to die! All the unblinking eyes make me deeply uncomfortable.

There are a couple of museums that I actually enjoy. I like to learn about the material being displayed, but I'm not a fan of creepy statues or stuffed animals. So, do I go by my average experience? If so, parties all the way. Or, take a more idealised version/ focus on the times I've enjoyed museums? I'm likely to feel hesitant about going to a museum because I'm aware that the factors I don't enjoy might be there.

So, does this mean I should pick parties? Well, I don't always have a good time at those either. Nor do I have much experience, since I've only been to children's parties and the occasional clubbing venture. There have been some good parties, but there have also been ones that have ended with me arranging the snacks by colour and avoiding the other kids by talking to their parents in the kitchen. So uh, can I have another option?

In theory, it should be a simple question. The implication is do you prefer to be alone and studying subjects of interest, or socialising at a party? But, if I take it seriously and consider every factor in my answer, then I'm a bit stuck. I guess a party, but I might get overwhelmed at one.

Then there's questions such as "Are you attracted to unusual qualities in the opposite sex?", and they leave me a bit confused. Platonically? Romantically? As research experiments? I would assume that it's talking about romance, and if so then since I'm gay should I answer this question as if it were asking about the same sex? If so, what counts as unusual? The question is too vague.

However, I agree that these tests are useful either for a general indication or as a conversation starter. But they lack the nuance to hold much ground. I usually score in the borderline category, either "higher traits than the average population, but not high enough to qualify for a diagnosis" or "possible mild ASD". The quizzes with charts can be interesting to take, even if it's just for procrastination purposes. I remember taking one, NT was on the left and ND on the right. The interests category skewed towards ND, but for the communication section it was almost equal on both sides but leaning more towards NT. I usually end up with a weird shape in the middle of the chart with the occasional massive jolt to either side on certain categories.

^ I understand these quizzes are vague on purpose so that a lot of people can answer them, still, some of the questions come off as being so vague that they make no sense. Here's another one:

Do people sometimes think you are smiling at the wrong occasion?

First, I'm rarely in a situation where people would observe me smiling, and if I was, how would I know if they were even observing me smiling? Are they suppose to tell me? Am I suppose to look at their faces to see if they're watching me?

And what is the wrong occasion anyway? A funeral? A car crash? Someone on the top of a building getting reading to jump? The 9/11 bombings? Who would be watching my face while these events are going on?

A more appropriate quiz question would be - Has anyone ever told you that you're smiling at a tragic event where you're supposed to be sad? or something like that.