Doctor reveals the 2-minute test that shows if you’re autistic – where are you on the spectrum?

Have you ever wondered if you or someone you love might have autism?

A quick two-minute test can show if you have trouble picking up emotional cues in people’s faces – a telltale sign of the disorder.

London-based general practitioner Dr. Sermed Mezher shared the 36-point quiz with his 254,000 Instagram followerswhich involves looking at images of different pairs of eyes.

The psychological assessment, medically known as Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RTEM), presents participants with a series of 36 black and white photographs showing only the eye area of ​​different individuals.

You will then be asked 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 “cautious.”

“Low scores are associated with autism, and high scores with high emotional intelligence and being female,” 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 followed to choose your answer.

While neurotypical people are expected to complete the test in two to three minutes, for people with autism it can take more than three minutes, Dr. Mezher said.

On average, people get between 23 and 30 emotions correct, but people with autism score on average between 18 and 29 out of 36.

Most people who take the quiz will say that they knew the expressions in the pictures intuitively.

But people with autism may say they arrived at their answers through a process of elimination or by 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 Britain have a diagnosis of autism.

Being autistic, says the NHS, ‘does not mean you have an illness or condition’, but ‘means that your brain works in a different way to other people’s’.

Signs of autism can vary greatly between individuals. Some will be able to live a full life without additional help, while others may need full-time help.

Classic signs of autism include communication problems, a lack of emotional intelligence, finding certain situations overwhelming and repetitive behavior.

This rapid test is widely used to research autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other conditions that can affect social understanding, but it is not a diagnostic test.

For example, people with autism often score low, indicating that 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 evaluate theory of mind, or the ability to recognize and infer the thoughts, feelings and intentions of others,” said Dr. Mezher.

While the test has been praised for being “fast” and “cross-culturally adaptable,” critics say it focuses on recognizing emotional expressions rather than understanding more complex mental states in real-world situations.

Dr. Mezher previously shared the Autism Spectrum Quotient-10 (AQ-10) test on social media as another example of a method for discovering typical autistic traits.

It is designed for people over 16 and consists of ten questions focused on social skills and communication.

Those who score more than six points are more likely to be autistic.

Questions include whether you “notice little sounds when others don’t,” whether you can focus on the whole picture or just “small details,” and whether you know when someone listening to you is bored.