Girls Questionnaire for Autism Spectrum Conditions (GQ-ASC)
A 21-item self-report screener for autistic traits in women, built around presentations that other questionnaires tend to miss.
Last reviewed: July 2026
- Full name
- Girls Questionnaire for Autism Spectrum Conditions (GQ-ASC)
- Measures
- The GQ-ASC (Girls Questionnaire for Autism Spectrum Conditions) is a 21-item self-report screener developed by Tony Attwood and Michelle Garnett, and validated for adults by Brown, Attwood, Garnett and Stokes (2020).
- Format
- 21 items · ~5 min · Self-report
- Score range
- 21 to 84
- Reliability
- Brown, Attwood, Garnett and Stokes (2020, Autism in Adulthood 2(3), 216–226) validated a modified GQ-ASC for adult women in a sample of 672 women aged 18 to 72, comprising 350 autistic and 322 non-autistic participants, and found a five-component structure matching the five groupings above.
- Population
- Adult women, aged 18 and over, self-report.
- Interpretation
- 21–42Low (ClientForms range)
- 43–56Moderate (ClientForms range)
- 57–70Above the cut-off
- 71–84High (ClientForms range)
Scoring & Interpretation
Each of the 21 items is rated 1 to 4 and the responses are summed, giving a total from 21 to 84. There is no reverse scoring: the developers state that the clinical version of the questionnaire, unlike the reverse-scored research version, does not need to be reverse-scored, and ClientForms deploys the clinical version. The developers publish a single cut-off — a total above 56 — and no severity scheme beyond it. ClientForms reports five subscale groupings alongside the total (Imagination and play, Camouflaging, Sensory sensitivities, Socialising, Interests) so the pattern behind a score is visible, and the bands in the table below are ClientForms ranges built around the one published edge, not the developers’ own.
| Score Range | Severity | Clinical Action |
|---|---|---|
| 21–42 | Low (ClientForms range) | Few autistic traits reported. A low total does not rule autism out, particularly where masking is likely. |
| 43–56 | Moderate (ClientForms range) | Some traits reported, below the developers’ cut-off. Read alongside the clinical picture rather than as a negative result. |
| 57–70 | Above the cut-off | At or above 57 — the developers’ published cut-off. Consider proceeding to a fuller autism assessment. |
| 71–84 | High (ClientForms range) | Traits reported across most items. Comprehensive assessment and consideration of supports. |
- Brown, Attwood, Garnett and Stokes (2020, Autism in Adulthood 2(3), 216–226) validated a modified GQ-ASC for adult women in a sample of 672 women aged 18 to 72, comprising 350 autistic and 322 non-autistic participants, and found a five-component structure matching the five groupings above.
- The developers’ scoring sheet states that a total above 56 is "sensitive to 80% of cases" — that is, it detects roughly four in five autistic women, and misses about one in five.
- No specificity is published for this cut-off, so how often it flags women who are not autistic is not established, and the result should not be read as an accuracy figure.
- This is the reason the GQ-ASC is best used to prompt assessment rather than to settle a question.
ClientForms publishes a standing audit of scoring and interpretation cut-offs across the whole catalogue: scoring accuracy audit.
When to Use This vs Alternatives
| Instrument | Measures | Items | Reach for it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| GQ-ASC This page | Autistic traits, female presentation | 21 | The comprehensive option you are reading about |
| RAADS-R | Autistic traits, 4 subscales | 80 | You want a fuller structured trait profile across social, sensory and language domains, with a cut-off that has published sensitivity and specificity. The GQ-ASC is narrower and tuned to a presentation; the RAADS-R is the broader read, and the two are commonly sent together. |
| CAT-Q | Autistic camouflaging | 25 | You want to measure camouflaging itself rather than infer it. The GQ-ASC includes masking among the traits it screens; the CAT-Q quantifies it on its own scale, which helps explain why a trait screen may read low in someone who masks heavily. |
| RBQ-3 | Repetitive behaviour, 2 subscales | 20 | Restricted and repetitive behaviour needs its own read. The GQ-ASC touches interests but does not cover routine and sensory-motor repetition in depth, which the RBQ-3 does across two subscales. |
Autistic traits, female presentation · 21 items
Autistic traits, 4 subscales · 80 items
You want a fuller structured trait profile across social, sensory and language domains, with a cut-off that has published sensitivity and specificity. The GQ-ASC is narrower and tuned to a presentation; the RAADS-R is the broader read, and the two are commonly sent together.
Autistic camouflaging · 25 items
You want to measure camouflaging itself rather than infer it. The GQ-ASC includes masking among the traits it screens; the CAT-Q quantifies it on its own scale, which helps explain why a trait screen may read low in someone who masks heavily.
Repetitive behaviour, 2 subscales · 20 items
Restricted and repetitive behaviour needs its own read. The GQ-ASC touches interests but does not cover routine and sensory-motor repetition in depth, which the RBQ-3 does across two subscales.
See It in Action
- 1GQ-ASC total out of 84, captioned as a ClientForms range rather than a published severity band
- 2The developers’ cut-off of >56 marked on the score bar, with the 80% sensitivity read and its miss rate stated beside it
- 3Imagination and play, Camouflaging, Sensory sensitivities, Socialising and Interests shown as subscale bars
- 4One-click PDF export and email delivery for the clinical record
What It Measures
It was written specifically around the way autism commonly presents in women and girls: childhood imagination and play, social camouflaging, sensory sensitivities, social fatigue, and the shape of a person’s interests. Most autism screens were developed on predominantly male samples, and the GQ-ASC exists because those instruments were not built to catch a presentation that is often internalised and actively masked. Each item is rated from 1 (Definitely disagree) to 4 (Definitely agree), giving a total from 21 to 84.
- Imagination and play
- Fantasy and fiction as an adult, and how imaginative play looked between the ages of five and twelve.
- Camouflaging
- Observing and copying other women, adopting different personas, and following socially confident people.
- Sensory sensitivities
- Attachment to comforting objects, distress during grooming or touch, going mute in social situations, and reactions to smells and tastes.
- Socialising
- Socialising well then crashing, a facial mask that hides confusion, intense emotion, and apologising for social errors.
- Interests
- Childhood toy preferences and interests that ran ahead of the person’s age.
When to Use the GQ-ASC
Use the GQ-ASC when a woman presents with a query about autism and the conventional picture does not fit — a long history of feeling different without a label, exhausting social effort, or an earlier screen that came back low against a strong clinical impression. It is most useful as a companion to a broader trait measure rather than on its own: it is tuned to a presentation, not to the full construct. It is a screener and not a diagnostic instrument, and the developers report only how often it detects autistic women, not how often it flags women who are not autistic — so a positive result is a reason to assess further, never a finding in itself.
Who It's For
Adult women, aged 18 and over, self-report. The adult validation sample was cisgender and transgender women aged 18 to 72. A version for girls aged 13 to 19 exists separately and is not what ClientForms deploys. Scores can be raised by social anxiety, trauma, or long-standing masking learned for other reasons, so an elevated total is interpreted in context. It is not designed for use without a clinical assessment, and it is not validated as a standalone diagnostic tool.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the GQ-ASC?
The GQ-ASC (Girls Questionnaire for Autism Spectrum Conditions) is a 21-item self-report screener developed by Tony Attwood and Michelle Garnett, and validated for adults by Brown, Attwood, Garnett and Stokes (2020). It screens for autistic traits in women and girls across imagination and play, camouflaging, sensory sensitivities, socialising and interests. It is a screener, not a diagnostic test.
How is the GQ-ASC scored?
Each of the 21 items is rated from 1 (Definitely disagree) to 4 (Definitely agree) and the responses are summed, giving a total from 21 to 84. The clinical version has no reverse-scored items, unlike the research version. ClientForms reports the total and five subscale groupings the moment the patient submits.
What is the GQ-ASC cut-off score?
The developers’ scoring sheet gives a single cut-off: a total greater than 56 indicates a high level of autistic traits. Because scores are whole numbers, that is the same as 57 or above. The developers publish no severity scheme beyond that one edge, so any Low, Moderate or High banding you see around it — including the ranges ClientForms shows — is an interpretive aid, not a published threshold.
What does the GQ-ASC 80% sensitivity figure mean?
It means a total above 56 detects roughly four in five autistic women, and misses about one in five — so a score below the cut-off does not rule autism out. It is not an accuracy figure. No specificity is published for this cut-off, so how often it flags women who are not autistic has not been established, and the result should be read as a prompt to assess further rather than as a finding.
How does the GQ-ASC compare to the RAADS-R and the CAT-Q?
The RAADS-R gives a broader trait profile across four domains with a cut-off that has published sensitivity and specificity, and the CAT-Q measures camouflaging on its own scale. The GQ-ASC is narrower than either and tuned specifically to how autism tends to present in women, so it is most useful sent alongside them rather than in place of them.
Where does the GQ-ASC come from?
Tony Attwood and Michelle Garnett publish the questionnaire and its scoring sheet as a free download from their own websites, tonyattwood.com.au and attwoodandgarnettevents.com. The adult version is cited to Brown, C. M., Attwood, T., Garnett, M., & Stokes, M. A. (2020), Autism in Adulthood 2(3), 216–226.
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