[UPDATED] CHAPTER 4: HOME ASSESSMENT PART 1 – AUTISM TRAIT SCREENING

How DSM categories A and B translate into lived culture, and how self-screening tools can reveal the patterns that define autistic identity.

This chapter kicks off the home assessment process—the hands-on, practical way to evaluate your own autistic traits. Using the DSM-5 as a framework (while stripping out its ableist assumptions), Angela walks through the two core categories of traits: communication differences and monotropic passions. Instead of seeing these as “deficits,” she reframes them as cultural traits—different rules of engagement, different ways of bonding, and different methods of regulating a chaotic world. What the DSM calls repetitive behaviors, inflexibility, or fixations, autistic people recognize as stimming, survival strategies, and deep, joyful special interests.

To ground this in evidence, Angela introduces five well-known self-assessments—the CAT-Q, AQ, RAADS-R, SQ-R, and Monotropism Questionnaire—explaining how each one maps onto categories A and B and how to interpret your scores. The emphasis isn’t on getting a perfect number but on spotting patterns, reflecting on your lived experience, and understanding how masking or trauma can affect results. By the end of this chapter, you’ll have a personal chart of your scores, a clearer view of your autistic traits, and the foundation for the deeper analysis ahead. Whether or not you choose to move on to the next steps, this process alone can give you enough clarity to begin embracing your place in autistic culture.