Do you have Aspergers or High-Functioning Autism?

By Mark Hutten, M.A.
This questionnaire will help you figure out whether or not you have Aspergers-like (high-functioning autistic) traits.

Do you:

• Notice that other people seem bothered by your repetitive mannerisms to the point that they comment on them?

• Receive complaints that you lack empathy or don't understand where other people are coming from? 

• Enjoy learning about mechanical topics? 

• Feel compelled to follow a strict routine and feel extremely agitated when that routine changes?

• Find it difficult to share your interests with others in a way that holds their attention? 

• Find that most of your conversations revolve around just one topic?

• Flap your hands when you are excited? 

• Have a hard time looking people in the eye when you are talking to them or when they are talking to you? 

• Have specific rituals that must be done at specific times or during specific situations? 

• Like taking things apart, especially mechanical devices, to see the pieces inside of them?

• Often feel that you keep your emotions locked up inside without sharing them with those around you?

• Have certain rules that you must follow throughout the day? 

• Have difficulty understanding the importance or purpose of friendship? 

• Find yourself making frequent “social faux pas” (e.g., being so brutally honest with someone that they become offended)? 

• Find yourself unable to make friends? 

• Often feel that you're missing clues in other people's tone of voice that could help you understand how they are feeling? 

• Feel that your relationships with others seem fake or stilted? 

• Have problems discriminating between serious comments versus sarcastic ones?

• Notice that your interests/hobbies often seem to bore other people when you talk about them, or do they complain that you talk about them too much? 

• Have certain movements that you do repetitively on a regular basis? 

• Find that you are extremely interested in one subject more than anything else? 

• Have problems understanding nonverbal social cues (e.g., facial expressions, body language)?

If you answered yes to most of these, you may have Aspergers or HFA. Speak with a professional who has experience in diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorders to find out for sure. This questionnaire is not enough for a conclusive diagnosis. Also, note that the disorder is often not diagnosed before kids reach elementary school age.


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