This survey is a project that rose from the need to address certain weaknesses in other survey tools related to Asperger's/ASD in previously undiagnosed adults. This page is intended to serve as a brief introduction to the structure of the AASRI survey and the assumptions on which it is based. The AASRI is a self-report survey that will initially be applied informally to an uncontrolled, self-selected sample of respondents comprised of whichever internet users found it and decided to contribute. To show proper metrics and diagnostic utility, it will be necessary for the survey to be evaluated in a formal manner later on.
The AASRI was designed in four dimensions of nine items each as shown below.
| Perceived Intensity of Sensation |
| |
abnormally high or low
light, sound, smell, taste, texture, temperature, emotion
light touch vs firm touch
Items: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36
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| Pattern Recognition/Formation |
| |
literal language
facial recognition
echo, tics, stuttering, fidgeting
Items: 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33
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| Fixation |
| |
difficulty "tuning out"
difficulty "changing gears"
reduced novelty-seeking
"zoning out", routines, obsessions
Items: 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, 30, 34
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| Social Awareness |
| |
abnormally high or low
social monitoring, social theatrics
posture, tone and pace of voice, eye contact
deducing vs intuiting
Items: 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, 31, 35
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The AASRI was developed by listing the experiences of people who have been diagnosed with autism, organising those experiences into categories that would become these measured dimensions, and then creating the items that would provide values for each dimension. These items were not taken directly from another survey nor from the APA's DSM. Similiarities between these materials should reflect either the experiences of autistic adults or the manner in which we tend to describe those experiences. Current statistics regarding each item and dimension can be seen on the Survey Statistics page.
| Perceived Intensity of Sensation |
| |
| 4. |
I experience the brightness of lights differently than most of the people around me. |
| 8. |
I'm really uncomfortable when pressed by certain articles of clothing (e.g. socks, belts, bras, etc.). |
| 12. |
I experience the textures of fabrics or foods differently than most of the people around me. |
| 16. |
It often seems like my emotions are much more or much less intense than most of the people around me. |
| 20. |
I experience the loudness of sounds differently than most of the people around me. |
| 24. |
I experience some smells differently than most of the people around me. |
| 28. |
I experience the tastes of foods differently than most of the people around me. |
| 32. |
I experience temperature differently than most of the people around me. |
| 36. |
If someone's going to touch me, I would prefer a firm touch. Light touch feels "creepy." |
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The Perceived Intensity of Sensation should show sharp differences between autistic and non-autistic respondents. Most of the items in this dimension require the respondent to compare their own experiences to the experiences of other people. While this is often regarded as a bad method (for good reasons), each respondent has had a lifetime of experience being themselves and being exposed to other people in a shared environment. If the respondent is observant, self-reflective, and engages with the items honestly, we may draw from a wealth of information that isn't accessible any other way.
| Pattern Recognition/Formation |
| |
| 1. |
I'm often unsure of what someone means when they exaggerate. |
| 5. |
I have to meet someone several times before I start remembering their face. |
| 9. |
There are certain movements that I find myself doing or feel compelled to do (tics). |
| 13. |
I sometimes find myself repeating some sounds or words from the last thing I said without thinking about it. |
| 17. |
I have a stutter that I can't always control. |
| 21. |
I'm often unsure of what someone means when they say something sarcastic. |
| 25. |
I have to meet someone several times before I start remembering their name. |
| 29. |
I sometimes find myself repeating some sounds or words from the last thing SOMEBODY ELSE said without thinking about it. |
| 33. |
I often fidget with things to help me focus. |
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The Pattern Recognition/Formation dimension is an attempt to address the way the mind/brain tends to associate information, how it is sequenced, and how it is accessed. While many people will experience the features described in these items, autistic people seem to experience them to a greater extent and with greater regularity. Here we may expect some overlap with OCD and Tourette's Syndrome.
| Fixation |
| |
| 2. |
I'm much more comfortable watching or listening to things that I already know I like. |
| 6. |
I have a hard time ignoring things when I try to ignore them. |
| 10. |
It's hard to stop thinking about something once I've gotten into it. |
| 14. |
I tend to get deeply committed to learning about a topic of interest to the exclusion of other topics for a while. |
| 18. |
I often bother people by talking excessively when I know a lot about something. |
| 22. |
When my routines are interrupted, it's very stressful finding a new way to navigate the world around me. |
| 26. |
I have a hard time returning to a task after being distracted. |
| 30. |
I'm much more comfortable eating and drinking the things that I already know I like. |
| 34. |
I often focus on something so much that I stop noticing other things around me. |
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The Fixation dimension is intended to describe the placement and regulation of attention. Here we may find a large overlap with ADD/ADHD and some overlap with OCD. While both dimensions address difficulty habituating and dependence on habits, the major difference between the Fixation and the Pattern Recognition/Formation dimensions is a focus on attention management instead of association and sequencing. The difference may seem subtle at first, but the distinction may be important.
| Social Awareness |
| |
| 3. |
I have to try to match the pace, tone, or volume of my voice to what I'm trying to say. |
| 7. |
I've often had intense fascinations that are hard to share with my peers. |
| 11. |
I've often been unsure about how far away I should be from someone when talking or walking together. |
| 15. |
I often don't know how I should stand, move my hands, or express with my face when other people are watching. |
| 19. |
I'm often unsure of when other people would think lying is normal. |
| 23. |
I have to try to regulate eye contact. |
| 27. |
My real friendships are few, but very deep. |
| 31. |
I'd much rather be alone than be around people who don't already understand me. |
| 35. |
I really hate having to keep a conversation going with someone I don't really know. |
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The Social Awareness dimension seeks to establish how natural or unnatural typical social interactions seem to the respondent and how avoidant the respondent has become to social interactions as a whole. Here we may expect to see a large overlap with many causes of social anxiety and some conditions that are documented as personality disorders. While it is tempting to dissect every symptom we can define, we should try to remember that autism is defined as a category of symptoms (not causes), any one of which may be documented as its own condition by a different name.
Miscellaneous
It will likely be the case (as seen with the RAADS-R) that clinical control groups will report lower scores than those seen in self-selected non-autistic respondents online. A proper control group should include only people who do not show features of autism and are not biologically related to people with autism. Subtle expressions of features of autism tend to be more prevalent in the families of autistic people. Autism surveys are easier to popularise in autism-related online communities and it is more likely that non-autistic people in such communities will be related to someone with autism than non-autistic people in the general population. It is therefore likely that many of those who take the survey online and report that they do not have autism will get a slightly higher score than individuals who are completely unrelated to anyone with autism.
I make no claims about the completeness of this survey. I am sure that the AASRI is not perfect and so I hope that it will serve as a new starting point for more advanced tools that may assist in the diagnosis of Asperger's/ASD in cases that are difficult to detect. Until we achieve a causal understanding of autism, continual refinement of psychological tools such as this survey may be the best we can do to identify those who struggle more than we see.
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