Have you ever wondered if you or someone you love might have autism?
A quick two-minute test could reveal whether you have difficulty picking up emotional cues in people’s faces, a telltale sign of the disorder.
London-based GP Dr Sermed Mezher shared the 36-point questionnaire with his 254,000 followers on Instagramwhich involves looking at images from different pairs of eyes.
The psychological evaluation, known medically as Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RTEM), presents participants with a series of 36 black and white photographs showing only the eye region of different individuals.
It then asks you to choose one of four emotions that you think best describes the expression in the person’s eyes.
For example, one image shows only a woman’s eyes, eyebrows, and the bridge of her nose and asks participants to choose whether she is “arrogant,” “grateful,” “sarcastic,” or “indecisive.”
“Low scores are associated with autism, and high scores are associated with high emotional intelligence and being female,” Dr. Mezher said.
The total score is based on three items: how long it took you to complete the test, the number you guessed correctly, and the processes you took to choose your answer.
While neurotypical people are expected to complete the test in two to three minutes, people with autism may take more than three minutes, Dr. Mezher said.
On average, people get between 23 and 30 emotions right, but people with autism get an average of between 18 and 29 out of 36.
Most people who answer the questionnaire will say that they intuitively knew the expressions in the images.
But people with autism can say they arrived at their answers through a process of elimination or using their knowledge of facial expressions, rather than knowing them instinctively, the doctor suggested.
It is estimated that around 700,000 people, including adults and children, in the UK have a diagnosis of autism.
Being autistic, the NHS says, “does not mean you have a disease”, but rather “means your brain works in a different way to other people”.
Signs of autism can vary widely between individuals. Some will be able to lead full lives without additional help, while others will need full-time assistance.
Classic signs of autism include problems communicating, lack of emotional intelligence, finding certain situations overwhelming, and repetitive behaviors.
This rapid test has been widely used to investigate autism spectrum disorders (ASD), as well as other conditions that can affect social understanding, but is not a diagnostic test.
For example, people with autism often score low, suggesting they have difficulty reading subtle emotional cues.
However, the test has also been used to study general emotional intelligence, empathy, and social interaction abilities in broader populations.
“It is used as a tool to assess ‘theory of mind,’ or the ability to recognize and infer the thoughts, feelings and intentions of others,” Dr. Mezher said.
While the test has been praised for being “fast” and “cross-culturally adaptable,” critics say the test focuses on recognizing emotional expressions rather than understanding more complex mental states in real-world situations.
Dr. Mezher has previously shared the Autism Spectrum Quotient-10 (AQ-10) test on social media as another example of a method for detecting typically autistic traits.
Designed for ages 16 and up, it consists of ten questions focused on social skills and communication.
It is said that those who score more than six points are more likely to be autistic.
Questions include whether you “notice small sounds when others don’t,” whether you can focus on the big picture or just the “small details,” and whether you know when someone listening to you is getting bored.