Ever wondered if you, or someone you love, could have autism?
A quick two-minute test could reveal if you struggle to pick up emotional cues in people’s faces — a telltale sign of the disorder.
London-based GP Dr Sermed Mezher shared the 36-point quiz with his 254,000 Instagram followers, which involves looking at images of different pairs of eyes.
The psychological assessment, 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 pick one of four emotions you think best describes the expression in the person’s eyes.
For example, one image shows just a woman’s eyes, eyebrows and bridge of her nose and asks participants to choose whether she is ‘arrogant’, ‘grateful’, ‘sarcastic’, or ‘tentative’.
‘Low scores are associated with autism, and high scores with high emotional intelligence and being a woman,’ Dr Mezher said.
The total score is based on three items: How long it took 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, those with autism may take more than three minutes, Dr Mezher said.
On average people get between 23 and 30 emotions correct, but those with autism score an average between 18 to 29 out of 36.
Most people taking the quiz will say they intuitively knew the expressions in the images.
But people with autism may say they arrived at their answers through a process of elimination or using their knowledge of facial expressions, rather than instinctively knowing, the doctor suggested.
It is estimated that around 700,000 people, including adults and children, in the UK have an autism diagnosis.
Being autistic, the NHS says, ‘does not mean you have an illness or disease’, rather it ‘means your brain works in a different way from other people’.
Signs of autism can vary widely between individuals. Some will be able to lead full lives with no additional help, while others may need full-time assistance.
Classic signs of autism include trouble communicating, a lack of emotional intelligence, finding certain situations overwhelming and repetitive behaviours.
This quick test has been widely used to research autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as well as other conditions that may affect social understanding, but it is not a diagnostic test.
For example, people with autism often score a low mark suggesting they struggle reading subtle emotional cues.
However, the test has also been used to study general emotional intelligence, empathy and social interaction capabilities in broader populations.
‘It is used as a tool to evaluate “theory of mind”, or the capacity to recognise and infer the thoughts, feelings, and intentions of others,’ Dr Mezher said.
While the test has been praised for being ‘quick’ and ‘cross-culturally adaptable’, critics say the test focuses on recognising emotional expressions rather than understanding more complex mental states in real-world situations.
Dr Mezher has previuosly shared the Autism Spectrum Quotient-10 (AQ-10) test on social media as another example of a method of spotting typically autistic traits.
Designed for over-16s it consists of ten questions focusing on social skills and communication.
Those who score more than six points are said to be more likely to be autistic.
Questions include whether you ‘notice small sounds when others do not’, if you can concentrate on the whole picture or just ‘small details’, and if you know when someone listening to you is getting bored.
