An informal test of social know-how and its uses

Challenged to write about problems which face adults with Asperger's syndrome, I would like to begin by challenging readers to a simple test. The aim of the test will become clear later. For the moment, think of it as a test of your knowledge of human relations. I have offered the stories to my autistic friends with the following explanation and reassurance: ‘I am interested in your opinions so that I can compare them with others. There are no precise right or wrong answers to this test, so you cannot fail it’.

The test was composed in 1974 for some young men whose parents were members of the American National Society for Autistic Children. It was my first attempt at trying to understand the frustrations of adolescents who no longer fitted the stereotype of younger autistic children. After constructing stories involving some ordinary social interactions mingled with unusual interactions, I presented them first to a class of normal college students. They compared their answers and challenged me to a lively debate. After a few revisions, I was satisfied that the stories were understood consistently by normal students, and that unconventional answers might help pin-point problems in my autistic subjects.

The autistic subjects were most co-operative, taking a lot of trouble and risking humiliation in order to be helpful to people like themselves, that is, high-functioning autistic individuals who might also be classified under the term Asperger's syndrome.