Post #88 - Obeying The Rules

Along with a whole host of other Aspies, I don't really like people flouting rules (and perhaps it's also because I hail from a police family?)  We went for our usual Sunday afternoon trip to our local abbey today, which is mostly ruined, but quite a lot of the walls are still intact.  There is a clear 'no ball games' rule, but lo and behold, there was a group of youths playing football inside of it and absolutely whacking the ball around, much to the disdain of the parents of toddlers etc who often like to bimble around there.  We were just about to leave and head off into the woods when the ball came near me - I turned around and admonished one of the youths.  Why did I do that?  Well, it made me feel better and I really don't see why people should get away with such selfish behaviour.

Don't get me wrong, I never place myself or my son in danger, but it's not great. Once I told off a parent for parking on the zig zags outside the school; of course, I received a torrent of verbal abuse, but quite honestly, I couldn't care less.

Post #87 - Autism Research Project - AQ, EQ and SQ scores

I received an email from my local NAS branch inviting those with autism (or a child/relative with the condition) to volunteer their services to assist with a research project, so I did exactly that.  Part of the registration process was re-doing the AQ, EQ and SQ tests which I completed back in 2015.  I don't mind sharing my results, which are as follows:

AQ (Autism Quotent) - Score: 43/50 (men usually score about 17 and women score about 15) 32-50 is a very high score.  

This questionnaire measures the number of autistic traits an individual has.  The higher your score, the more traits you have.  The maximum score is 50.

EQ (Empathy Quotent) - Score: 18/80 (men usually score about 42 and women score about 47.  0-32 is a low score.

This questionnaire measures empathising.  Empathising refers to the ability to identify and respond appropriately to another person's thoughts and feelings. The higher your score, the more empathetic you are.  The maximum score is 80.  

SQ (Systemising Quotent) - Score: 88/160 (men usually score about 64 and women about 54) 79-99 is a high score.

This questionnaire measures systemising.  Systemising is the drive to understand the rules governing the behaviour of a system and the drive to construct lawful systems.  The higher your score, the better at systemising you are.  The maximum score is 160.  

Rightio - I'm still autistic then!?

Post #86 - Courses and Volunteering

I'm not sure whether I've mentioned it before, and apologies if I have, but I'm currently attending weekly course entitled 'Living With Autism' every Tuesday morning.  It's run by my borough's Autism Unit and I must say that it's excellent. I'm the only autistic adult with a diagnosis on the course and hopefully my input is helping others understand this most complex of conditions.

I'm also volunteering with a national disability charity as a online forum moderator, but that's not really going as well.  I guess that there's a serious lack of training and guidance, plus due to the nature of the work, I cannot carry the work out on my smartphone.  I'm not sure I'm the best person to do this kind of work because the repetitive nature of the tasks doesn't really fit my 'unique' skill set; plus I'm not the most empathetic of people.