A little disclaimer: this is just a little rant. It’s just one of those things I can ramble about, and I enjoy doing so.
So, for those who don’t know, the Autism Quotient (AQ) is a questionnaire used to screen people for autism. It’s not a diagnostic tool, but is used to see whether someone should get assessed for autism. It’s used in research sometimes as an indicator of clinical and sub-clinical autism traits in people who are autistic or are related to an autistic person.
There is some evidence for the AQ’s use as a screening instrument. However, what I’m going to discuss is not the validity or reliability of the questionnaire overall. Rather, I’d like to point out one of the stranger questions that may rely upon outdated stereotypes about autism.
You can check out the AQ yourself here if you’re interested.
The statement is: ‘I would rather go to a library than to a party.’ When scoring the questionnaire, ‘strongly agree’ and ‘agree’ indicate autistic traits. IE, preferring the library to a party is considered to be an autistic trait.
The problem is, the question has no context.
The lack of context makes this question frustrating and annoying. Is the party with friends? Is it a birthday party? Is it a social party? Do I know anyone there? Is it loud? Is it a silent disco? Is it a nightclub? Is the library quiet? Do I have anything to do in the library? Am I in the mood to read? Am I in a group at the library? A study session? Am I in a silent area in the library? Am I tired? Am I out of social energy? Have I socialised recently? Is some random person going to talk to me in the library? In the party, I can expect being talked to and prepare for it, whereas in the library I may be caught off guard and overwhelmed.
Of course, I doubt the researchers think of all of this. They likely just think ‘autistic people prefer to be alone/socialise little, and so they’ll go to the library’. This is based upon the assumption that autistic people cannot be extroverted, that we cannot actually seek social interaction or want to socialise. And sure, some autistic people may not want to/be able to cope with parties because of all the people and sensory input. I know I would often stay in my room when my parents had dinner parties. I don’t tend to go to parties nowadays for the reasons mentioned before; I don’t know who will be there, how loud it will be, whether I will be able to escape if it is too much, etc. But, when I know everyone and they know me, I can enjoy parties.
But it is overly simplistic to assume all autistic people prefer libraries to parties. I mean, parties may have one loud musical soundtrack going on, which can hurt my ears. But I have an excuse when I don’t hear someone over the music, and the music drowns out background noise. In a library, you can hear everyone talking, whispering, tapping, coughing, humming, and giggling. It’s often difficult for me to focus when in a library without my headphones on. In a library, I am trying to read or work. I need silence, or music from my headphones, in order to focus. In a party, I’m not trying to work. If I make a social faux pas at a party it’s possible to blame alcohol, and people are less likely to notice it if they’ve had a drink too.
So there are different requirements and difficulties in both situations, and my preference differs depending upon both the environment itself and my own state of mind.
Nowadays, I’ve figured out what the researchers asking this question probably mean. They're probably asking 'would you prefer to go to a location with little noise and socialisation, or a place with lots of noise and socialisation?'. But I didn't figure this out until I looked at these questionnaires from the position of a researcher rather than a participant.
The answers I give do not always line up with what researchers think I mean. If you say you prefer parties, they'll assume you're not sensitive to loud noises or don't mind lots of socialisation. In fact, it could easily be that the library near you has a nosy librarian who always wants to chat, and the party you're thinking of is a gathering with friends, video games, and pizza.
The problem is that the researchers may make different assumptions about the questions than the participant. When I get those sorts of questions, I'm running through all the variables that would affect why I may choose one over the other. I'm using past experiences to decide. Sometimes a researcher looks at the answer and sees what their interpretation is, not what my answer is.