Do ‘autistic traits’ determine our career choice?

This study assesses Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) scores in a 'big data' sample collected through the UK Channel 4 television website, following the broadcasting of a medical education program. We examine correlations between the AQ and age, sex, occupation, and UK geographic region in 450,394 individuals. We predicted that age and geography would not be correlated with AQ, whilst sex and occupation would have a correlation. Mean AQ for the total sample score was m = 19.83 (SD = 8.71), slightly higher than a previous systematic review of 6,900 individuals in a non-clinical sample (mean of means = 16.94) This likely reflects that this big-data sample includes individuals with autism who in the systematic review score much higher (mean of means = 35.19). As predicted, sex and occupation differences were observed: on average, males (m = 21.55, SD = 8.82) scored higher than females (m = 18.95; SD = 8.52), and individuals working in a STEM career (m = 21.92, SD = 8.92) scored higher than individuals non-STEM careers (m = 18.92, SD = 8.48). Also as predicted , age and geographic region were not meaningfully correlated with AQ. These results support previous findings relating to sex and STEM careers in the largest set of individuals for which AQ scores have been reported and suggest the AQ is a useful self-report measure of autistic traits.

Brazilian Journal of Development

Introduction: Autism is considered a clinical condition distinct from the general population, while autistic traits may be continuously distributed across the population and referred to as "broader autism phenotype (BAP)." Few studies currently address autistic traits in the general population, and little is known about the relationship between the psychiatric condition and the BAP. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of autistic traits in a sample of undergraduate students. Methods: An online survey was applied containing sociodemographic questions and the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), a widely used scale to quantify autistic traits in the general population. The AQ has 50 items, divided into five subscales consisting of 10 items each that assess domains of cognitive strengths and difficulties related to ASD. Results: A total of 1.167 students answered the questionnaire, with a female predominance (70%). The most representative higher educational areas were the Health Sciences (54%), followed by Engineering (12.3%). A total of 44 participants (3.8%) reached the AQ cutoff of 32+ points, indicating the presence of autistic traits, 25 (54.3%) female, and 21 (45.6%) male students. The higher academic areas with the highest frequency of autistic traits were linguistics, letters, and arts (12.5%), followed by engineering (6.9%). Conclusion: Musicians, scientists, and mathematicians have higher AQ scores than students from different areas. The investigation of autistic traits in the general population might help understand the autism spectrum itself and discuss autism from an educational viewpoint.

Journal of autism and …, 2001

Currently there are no brief, self-administered instruments for measuring the degree to which an adult with normal intelligence has the traits associated with the autistic spectrum. In this paper, we report on a new instrument to assess this: the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Individuals score in the range 0-50. Four groups of subjects were assessed: Group 1: 58 adults with Asperger syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA); Group 2: 174 randomly selected controls. Group 3: 840 students in Cambridge University; and Group 4: 16 winners of the UK Mathematics Olympiad. The adults with AS/HFA had a mean AQ score of 35.8 (SD = 6.5), significantly higher than Group 2 controls (M = 16.4, SD = 6.3). 80% of the adults with AS/HFA scored 32+, versus 2% of controls. Among the controls, men scored slightly but significantly higher than women. No women scored extremely highly (AQ score 34+) whereas 4% of men did so. Twice as many men (40%) as women (21%) scored at intermediate levels (AQ score 20+). Among the AS/HFA group, male and female scores did not differ significantly. The students in Cambridge University did not differ from the randomly selected control group, but scientists (including mathematicians) scored significantly higher than both humanities and social sciences students, confirming an earlier study that autistic conditions are associated with scientific skills. Within the sciences, mathematicians scored highest. This was replicated in Group 4, the Mathematics Olympiad winners scoring significantly higher than the male Cambridge humanities students. 6% of the student sample scored 32+ on the AQ. On interview, 11 out of 11 of these met three or more DSM-IV criteria for AS/HFA, and all were studying sciences/mathematics, and 7 of the 11 met threshold on these criteria. Test-retest and interrater reliability of the AQ was good. The AQ is thus a valuable instrument for rapidly quantifying where any given individual is situated on the continuum from autism to normality. Its potential for screening for autism spectrum conditions in adults of normal intelligence remains to be fully explored.

Autism, 2001

In the first edition of this journal, we published a paper reporting that fathers and grandfathers of children with autism were over-represented in the field of engineering . This result was interpreted as providing supporting evidence for the folk psychology/folk physics theory of autism.

AUTISM-LONDON-, 2001

Cognitive processing, 2019

In the present study, we were interested to investigate how autistic traits (including systemizing and empathy) and academic degree influence individuals' visuospatial abilities. To this end, 352 university students completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), the Empathy Quotient, the Systemizing Quotient (SQ) and visuospatial tests measuring figure disembedding and mental rotation of two-dimensional figures. Engineering-design students (architecture and engineering) were the most accurate in disembedding and mentally rotating figures, followed by students of physical sciences (computer science, chemistry, physics, etc.) and fact-based humanities (languages, classics, law); biological (psychology and neuroscience, etc.) and systems-based social scientists (economics and commerce) were the least accurate. Engineering-design students also showed higher SQ scores with respect to the other four academic degree subjects, with students of biological sciences showing lower SQ scores. Importantly, results from a path analysis revealed that SQ (but not AQ) exerted an indirect effect on figure disembedding and mental rotations through the influence of the academic degree. Thus, the present findings reveal shady differences in systemizing degree and visuospatial performance within systemizing-based degree subjects. Implications for education are discussed.

Increased awareness, an influx of early identification of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and access to services at the K-12 level over the past 20 years mean that a larger number of individuals with ASD are and soon will be pursuing higher education. The limited studies conducted thus far show a disproportionately low number of individuals with ASD attending college as compared to other disabilities, a broader autism phenotype among the general population, and a pattern of poor outcomes for adults with autism after leaving high school.

2020

The societal cost of ASD is enormous, and the concept of broader autism phenotype (BAP) adds more weight to the situation. The recent reporting of the higher prevalence rate of ASD in India [1] (Chauhan et al., 2019) and social impairment implications suggest a serious attempt to understand this situation. Present work reports finding from a pilot study in this direction. This work examines three related concepts: 1) hypothesized connection between social impairment/autistic trait and STEM education/profession; 2) existence of broader autism phenotype, and 3) convergence validity between two most widely used autistic trait screening tool (autism spectrum quotient and social responsiveness scale). We conducted this study on 85 student participants with autism spectrum quotient, social responsiveness scale, reading Mind in the eye test, and metacognitive questionnaire. The data collection was done using a paper-pencil test, google form, and E-prime software. The results suggest the po...

The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) is a self-report measure of autistic traits. It is frequently cited in diverse fields and has been administered to adults of at least average intelligence with autism and to nonclinical controls, as well as to clinical control groups such as those with schizophrenia, prosopagnosia, anorexia, and depression. However, there has been no empirical systematic review of the AQ since its inception in 2001. The present study reports a comprehensive systematic review of the literature to estimate a reliable mean AQ score in individuals without a diagnosis of an autism spectrum condition (ASC), in order to establish a reference norm for future studies. A systematic search of computerized databases was performed to identify studies that administered the AQ to nonclinical participant samples representing the adult male and female general population. Inclusion was based on a set of formalized criteria that evaluated the quality of the study, the usage of the AQ, and the population being assessed. After selection, 73 articles, detailing 6,934 nonclinical participants, as well as 1,963 matched clinical cases of ASC (from available cohorts within each individual study), were analyzed. Mean AQ score for the nonclinical population was 16.94 (95% CI 11.6, 20.0), while mean AQ score for the clinical population with ASC was found to be 35.19 (95% CI 27.6, 41.1). In addition, in the nonclinical population, a sex difference in autistic traits was found, although no sex difference in AQ score was seen in the clinical ASC population. These findings have implications for the study of autistic traits in the general population. Here, we confirm previous norms with more rigorous data and for the first time establish average AQ scores based on a systematic review, for populations of adult males and females with and without ASC. Finally, we advise future researchers to avoid risk of bias by carefully considering the recruitment strategy for both clinical and nonclinical groups and to demonstrate transparency by reporting recruitment methods for all participants.

Technology, Transition, and Inclusivity, 2012

Background: The number of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) entering Universities is growing. Recent studies show an increased understanding of students with ASD in higher education. Yet, current research generally relies on small samples, lacks information about student characteristics prior to enrollment, and does not compare students with ASD to other students. Method: Background and enrollment characteristics of students with ASD (n = 97) were compared to students with other disabilities (OD; n = 2252) and students with no recorded disabilities (ND; n = 24,794) based on administrative data of first-year bachelor enrollments (n = 27,143). Results: From 2010 to 2016 the proportion of students with ASD significantly increased from 0.20% to 0.45%. The characteristics of ASD students at enrollment were similar to other students, but it took ASD students more time to reach higher education compared to ND students, and they were at heightened risk of comorbidity compared to OD students. No difficulties were found with participation in preparatory activities, and goal setting. Conclusions: These quantitative insights are a valuable addition to the more qualitative evidence so far. For parents of children with ASD and individuals with ASD, these findings could help to adjust lower expectations. As this kind of administrative data is available to most institutions in higher education in day-today information systems, this study is promising for institutions to gain better insights in the enrollment of their students with ASD, and improve transition support.