I've been working on Step 6 lately, about how our sense of self has been informed by outside influences. For the first time in a while, I remembered that my pre-identification years were littered with self-testing. All kinds, from the ad-laden online quizzes of the early 2000s, like, "Which animal are you?" or "Which classical music composer are you?", to more scientific-sounding ones like Meyers-Briggs and a range of types of IQ quizzes, and even formal aptitude testing at a research center in my state capital. I was desperately trying to figure out who I was.  Testing felt good, but never seemed to lead to certainty or substantial change.

Maybe all this testing years is part of why I was so skeptical about the results of my first online autism quiz. And my second. And my third. I answered the questions honestly and ended up with the same result: I'm autistic. But for years, I answered other quiz questions honestly and found out I'm a llama. Or Handel. Or an INTJ. Or an average to slightly-above-average IQ. Or well suited to start my own lawncare company.

Fortunately, I kept exploring the idea of autism and evidence I'm autistic just kept mounting up. (So different from when I found out I was a llama. Not much extra evidence for that). But now Step 6 has made me think again about the self-testing of my pre-identification years. I'm wondering if anyone else here went through anything similar.

Share questions:

• What is your relationship with personality quizzes, IQ tests, aptitude testing, or other kinds of testing? 
• Have you ever done these kinds of tests informally, for example, a free online quiz? Formally, for example, at a testing center? What was it like?
  
• How does/did this testing make you feel? Were you able to build on it? 
• Do/did any autistic traits inform how you felt/feel about the testing? Black-and-white thinking, demand avoidance, other? 
• Have you ever done any online autism tests? What was it like? What were your results? How did you feel? Did it feel different than other kinds of testing, or similar?
• Have you done any personality/aptitude testing since finding out you are autistic? What was it like?
  
• Any tools strategies, or resources that helped you think about this topic? 
• Anything else to share?