What an AQ-10 Score of 5 Means
A score of 5 is one point below the AQ-10 cut-off of 6. Half of the items resonated with the autism-direction response — more than typical but just below the threshold the test uses to flag adults for further assessment. A 5 is a borderline result worth examining.
Score in Context
What an AQ-10 of 5 Means
A 5 on the AQ-10 is the score the literature treats as "just under." Allison, Auyeung & Baron-Cohen (2012) chose 6 as the cut-off because at that threshold sensitivity was 88% and specificity 91%, the best balance for primary-care use. A 5 is one point below — close enough that small variations in how you read a single item could push you to a 6 or down to a 4.
About 5–10% of non-autistic adults score 5, and a meaningful minority of autistic adults score 5 (as the AQ-10's 88% sensitivity implies it does miss some). If you scored a 5 and have other reasons to suspect autism — long-standing self-doubt about how you connect with people, a family member with a diagnosis, lifelong sensory issues — this is a score that justifies looking further.
The RAADS-R separates four sub-scales: Social Relatedness, Language, Sensory-Motor, and Circumscribed Interests. A score of 5 on the AQ-10 paired with a specific elevation on one of those sub-scales (most often Sensory-Motor or Circumscribed Interests in adults who score 5 on the AQ-10) can clarify whether the AQ-10's threshold is hiding something or whether you're genuinely in the typical range.
Recommended Next Steps
- Consider the RAADS-R for a more nuanced four-sub-scale picture.
- If your day-to-day life is meaningfully affected by the traits the AQ-10 probes, a clinical conversation is reasonable.
- Don't over-weight a single point — the difference between 5 and 6 is small.
How a 5 Compares Across Tests
An AQ-10 score in this range often corresponds to RAADS-R scores in the 65–105 'gray zone'.
Take the RAADS-R for a more granular four-sub-scale profile.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 5 considered autistic on the AQ-10?
No. The cut-off is 6. A 5 is one point below that threshold — sub-clinical on this measure.
Should I see a clinician with a 5?
If lifelong experience plus the score together make you wonder, yes — a clinician can take a developmental history that no questionnaire can. If your score is the only signal, the RAADS-R is a reasonable intermediate step.
How meaningful is the difference between 5 and 6?
At the cut-off boundary, individual items matter a lot. A 5 vs 6 difference often comes down to how you read one ambiguous statement. The boundary is statistical, not biological.
Do many adults score 5 and turn out to be autistic?
About 12% of autistic adults score below 6 on the AQ-10 — the test's specificity at this cut-off is 91%, but sensitivity is 88%. So yes, some autistic adults score 5; it's why a longer instrument or clinical assessment is the right next step if other signals point that way.
Should I retake the AQ-10 to see if I cross 6?
Retaking is unlikely to clarify much — your true score is what it is. A different instrument (RAADS-R, AQ-50) gives independent information that retaking the same 10 items cannot.
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Free · 10 questions · ~3 minutes · Allison & Baron-Cohen (2012)
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