#autismscreening

Okay, deep breath. I'm putting this out there because my head is spinning a bit, and I'm hoping some of you might have insights, especially those who've walked this path before or work in the field. For a long time now, I've felt... different. Like I'm operating on a slightly different frequency than everyone else. Social situations can be exhausting, routines are comforting, and sometimes sensory inputs feel overwhelming. 🌱 Recently, I started researching online, and the possibility of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) kept coming up. The descriptions resonated so much it was almost scary.

Naturally, I started looking into ways to understand this better, short of immediately seeking a potentially expensive and lengthy formal diagnosis. That's when I discovered the Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale-Revised, or RAADS-R test, which seems like a common starting point for adults. 💻

My first encounter was finding it mentioned on sites like NovoPsych. I found their page , but it seemed geared towards clinicians and offered the test as a PDF. Honestly, trying to score a long PDF questionnaire myself felt cumbersome and prone to error. 😩 I wanted something more interactive.

Then I found a couple of online versions. Embrace Autism seems quite popular and offers the standard 80-question test. I took it, and the results gave me a lot to think about. But then, I stumbled upon another site offering what seems like an enhanced version. It's this raads-r test which includes the standard 80 questions but also adds 6 unique, personalized questions. The really interesting part? They claim these extra questions are connected to AI 🤖, which analyzes the data alongside the standard questions to provide a result that's supposedly more nuanced and aligned with what a psychologist might consider during an evaluation.

This is where my confusion really kicked in. 🤷‍♀️ I took the test on raads-r.net as well, intrigued by the AI aspect. Now I have results from both Embrace Autism (the standard RAADS-R) and this AI-enhanced version from raads-r.net. And... well, they're not wildly different, but the interpretations or maybe the 'feel' of the results seem to diverge slightly? It's left me wondering:

Does the AI component in the raads-r.net test actually add significant value, or is it just a gimmick?

Is one platform generally considered more reliable or accurate than the other?

Could the difference in results (even if subtle) be meaningful?

This brings me to why I'm posting this. I'm really hoping to hear from individuals who have been formally diagnosed with autism or professionals (psychologists, therapists, diagnosticians) who work with autistic adults and might be familiar with these online screeners. 🙏

Have any of you tried both the standard RAADS-R on sites like Embrace Autism and the AI-enhanced version on raads-r.net? What were your experiences? Do you have an opinion on whether the AI addition provides a more accurate or helpful picture?

Most importantly, based on these kinds of online test results – especially when they might give slightly different impressions – how seriously should I consider pursuing a formal, in-person assessment? Is the result from a tool like the one on raads-r.net, with its AI analysis, something worth bringing to a professional's attention?