Camouflage CAT Autisme

CAT-Q
*The clarity of the test is lower due to its (reverse) scoring, which adds complexity
to calculating the scores. Our own implemented auto-scoring feature deals with
that, however, but this is not available on the official test.
Who the test is designed for

 Adults (age 16+) of average to higher intelligence.[1]
What it tests
The CAT-Q measures the degree to which you use camouflaging strategies. The
more you camouflage, the more of your autistic proclivities you are likely able to
suppress. As such, a high camouflaging score can also account for lower scores on
other autism tests. So if you don’t currently meet the diagnostic criteria but you still
think you have autistic traits, then this could be why.
The CAT-Q measures camouflaging in general, as well as three subcategories:
 Compensation — Strategies used to actively compensate for difficulties in social

situations.
o Examples: copying body language and facial expressions, learning social cues from
movies and books (see Autism & movie talk).
 Masking — Strategies used to hide autistic characteristics or portray a non-autistic
persona.
o Examples: adjusting face and body to appear confident and/or relaxed, forcing eye
contact.
 Assimilation — Strategies used to try to fit in with others in social situations.
o Examples: Putting on an act, avoiding or forcing interactions with others.
Taking the test

The CAT-Q consists of 25 statements, giving you 7 choices for each statement:
1. Strongly Disagree
2. Disagree
3. Somewhat Disagree
4. Neither Agree Nor Disagree
5. Somewhat Agree
6. Agree
7. Strongly Agree
The 25 statements relate to 3 subcategories of camouflaging:[2]
 9 statements (compensation)
 8 statements (masking)
 8 statements (assimilation)
Scoring
 Scoring range: 25–175
 Threshold score: 100↑
 All items are scored 1–7, with higher scores reflecting greater camouflaging.
We added auto-scoring for the CAT-Q, but should you want or need to self-score,
we will explain how to do that in the Self-scoring section. To see how autistic
people and neurotypicals score on the CAT-Q, go to the Average scores section.
For more information on how to interpret your scores, read the post below.
Interpreting your CAT-Q scores
Validity
How reliable, accurate, valid, and up to date is the test?
 Research shows robust psychometric support for the CAT-Q.

 High internal consistency was found for the total scale (Cronbach’s α = 0.94), and
the Compensation (α = 0.91), Masking (α = 0.85), and Assimilation (α = 0.92)
factors.[3]
 Test–retest reliability was good; 30 autistic individuals retook the test 3 months
later, and no significant differences were found between scores at both times.[4]
 The stability was good for the total scale and the Compensation factor, while
moderate stability was found for the Masking and Assimilation factors.[5]
Discussion
Dr. Natalie Engelbrecht:
I like that the CAT-Q addresses some of the problems with the outdated definitions
of autism in the research literature. It can also identify a person with autism who
might score below the threshold of other autism tests due to Masking.
I scored 143, which is significantly higher than most autistic females (124), and
autistics in general. That is not a surprise as I have always camouflaged so much
that therapists never diagnosed me with autism until age 47. In other words, we can
say that my impression management—behaviours that occur in front of others—is
excellent.
My Compensation (strategies used to compensate for difficulties in social

situations) score of 49 is higher than the 42 average of autistic females. My
Masking (strategies used to hide autistic characteristics or pretend to be a non-
autistic persona) score is 52 compared to the average 38 of autistic females. And in
terms of Assimilation (strategies to fit in with others in social situations), I
score 45, which is average for autistic females.
 Total = 143; Compensation = 49; Masking = 52; Assimilation = 45
Kendall:
The choices ‘Strongly Agree’ and ‘Strongly Disagree’ were an unnecessary

complication for me. I often wasn’t sure whether to answer strongly, feeling that
agreeing or disagreeing was enough. Do I feel strongly? I don’t know. Compared to
what or who?
Several questions are duplicated with one word slightly changed—they seem to be
asking the same thing. I found this puzzling and distracting.
Surprisingly, the test results show I camouflage more than I realize:
Martin:
I noted some very similar statements, such as #9 (I always think about the
impression I make on other people) and #18 (I am always aware of the impression I
make on other people). This kind of repetition can be particularly helpful
for alexithymic people like me who have challenges accessing their emotions at
times. By asking something in different ways, I might be urged to explore my
feelings more and reflect on my behavior. But also, how you respond to each
variation or related concept can reveal new things, and add nuance to your
understanding of yourself.
However, I wonder if people would meaningfully differentiate

between #9 and #18 when doing the test. And if not, does adding a substantially
different statement relating to masking not result in a better metric to quantify
masking?
I also wonder why Compensation consists of 9 items, while the other two
categories consist of 8 items. Does this not result in skewed subscales? Either way,
intuitively my scores seem to reflect my social behavior; and having done the test
twice, my results are pretty consistent.

The self-scoring process is daunting though, especially if you have dyscalculia. I

kept having a discrepancy between my total scores (118 and 128) and adding up the
subscale scores (121 and 125), so clearly I kept miscounting somewhere. But we
implemented an auto-scoring script to the test below, so no one needs to struggle
any longer to do the CAT-Q.
The CAT-Q
Please read each statement below and choose the answer that best fits your
experiences during social interactions.
1. When I am interacting with someone, I deliberately copy their body

language or facial expressions.
a. Strongly Disagree
b. Disagree
c. Somewhat Disagree
d. Neither Agree nor Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
2. I monitor my body language or facial expressions so that I appear

relaxed.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
3. I rarely feel the need to put on an act in order to get through a social
situation.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
4. I have developed a script to follow in social situations.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
5. I will repeat phrases that I have heard others say in the exact same
way that I first heard them.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
6. I adjust my body language or facial expressions so that I appear

interested by the person I am interacting with.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
7. In social situations, I feel like I’m ‘performing’ rather than being

myself.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
8. In my own social interactions, I use behaviours that I have learned

from watching other people interacting.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
9. I always think about the impression I make on other people.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
10. I need the support of other people in order to socialise.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
11. I practice my facial expressions and body language to make sure

they look natural.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
12. I don’t feel the need to make eye contact with other people if I
don’t want to.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
13. I have to force myself to interact with people when I am in social

situations.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
14. I have tried to improve my understanding of social skills by

watching other people.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
15. I monitor my body language or facial expressions so that I appear

interested by the person I am interacting with.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
16. When in social situations, I try to find ways to avoid interacting

with others.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
17. I have researched the rules of social interactions to improve my

own social skills.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
18. I am always aware of the impression I make on other people.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
19. I feel free to be myself when I am with other people.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
20. I learn how people use their bodies and faces to interact by
watching television or films, or by reading fiction.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
21. I adjust my body language or facial expressions so that I appear

relaxed.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
22. When talking to other people, I feel like the conversation flows
naturally.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
23. I have spent time learning social skills from television shows and
films, and try to use these in my interactions.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
24. In social interactions, I do not pay attention to what my face or

body are doing.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
25. In social situations, I feel like I am pretending to be ‘normal’.
b. Disagree
e. Somewhat Agree
f. Agree
g. Strongly Agree
Score
Rights & permissions
This test is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Self-scoring
If auto-scoring isn’t working, or you want to self-score your answers instead,
follow the steps below.
CAT-Q total score

 Reverse the scores of the answers for statements 3, 12, 19, 22, and 24, like so:
 Original scoring: a=1, b=2, c=3, d=4, e=5, f=6, g=7
 Reverse scoring: a=7, b=6, c=5, d=4, e=3, f=2, g=1
Then, add up all answers for statements 1–25.
Compensation score
 Add up all answers for statements 1, 4, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, and 23.
Masking score
 .Add up all answers for statements 2, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, and 24.
 ☞ Use the reversed scoring for statements 12 and 24.
Assimilation score
 Add up all answers for statements 3, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, and 25.
 ☞ Use the reversed scoring for statements 3, 19, and 22.
Average scores
A total score of 100 or above indicates you camouflage autistic traits. But other
than knowing the threshold, making sense of your scores can be challenging. It may
be helpful to compare your results to the average scores of autistics and non-
autistics. The highest scores are denoted by a star (★).
Average CAT-Q scores of autistics: Autistic females and autistic non-binary

people camouflage the most.[6]
❮
Average CAT-Q scores: autistics
CAT-Q scores Female Male Non-binary
Total score 124.35 ★ 109.64 122.00
Compensation 41.85 36.81 43.50 ★
Masking 37.87 ★ 32.90 36.06
Assimilation 44.63 ★ 39.93 39.88
❯
Average CAT-Q scores of neurotypicals: Surprisingly, neurotypical females

camouflage the least![7]
❮
Average CAT-Q scores: neurotypicals
Total score 90.87 96.89 109.44 ★
Compensation 27.18 30.06 35.48 ★
Masking 34.69 36.34 38.70 ★
Assimilation 29.00 30.48 35.26 ★
❯
And in the table below, you can see the differences in the average scores of autistic
people compared to neurotypicals. As you can see, autistic males and autistic non-
binary people mask less than their neurotypical counterparts, but do score higher in
Compensation and Assimilation.
❮
CAT-Q scores: Autistic–neurotypical differences
Total score 33.48 ★ 12.75 12.56
Compensation 14.67 ★ 6.75 8.02
Masking 3.18 −3.44 ★ −2.64
Assimilation 15.63 ★ 9.45 4.62
❯
It’s also interesting that autistic males don’t camouflage much more than
neurotypical men. The same is true for non-binary people. If you look at the
previous two diagrams, you will see that is because non-binary people camouflage
a lot in general, irrespective of whether they are autistic or neurotypical.
Correlations
Another way to make sense of your scores is to look at the correlations. All CAT-Q
scores significantly correlate with autistic-like traits, but there are some other
correlations:[8]
 High CAT-Q scores correlate with social anxiety in both autistics and
neurotypicals, with the exception of Masking.
 In autistic people, the total CAT-Q score and the Assimilation score negatively
correlate with well-being. The higher your scores on these measures, the lower
your well-being tends to be.
 In neurotypical people, all CAT-Q scores negatively correlate with well-being—
not just total score and Assimilation.
 In autistic people, all CAT-Q scores were correlated
with depression and generalised anxiety. This wasn’t tested for in the
neurotypical group.
For more information on the correlations with and consequences of camouflaging,

have a look at the following post:
Autism & camouflaging
And for more information on how to interpret your CAT-Q scores, have a look at
this post:
Interpreting your CAT-Q scores

Interpreting your CAT-Q
scores
Published: February 21, 2021
Last updated on July 28, 2022
Contents
 1 Camouflaging
 2 Camouflaging subtypes
o 2.1 Compensation
o 2.2 Masking
o 2.3 Assimilation
 3 Average CAT-Q scores
 4 Camouflaging autistic traits
 5 References
 6 Tags
 7 Disclaimer
If you want to know if you camouflage your autistic traits, you should take
the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q). It gives you a total
camouflaging score, as well as scores in three subtypes: Compensation, Masking,
and Assimilation.[1] But what do your scores in each category actually mean? In
this post, we will give more context, examples, and comparisons.
Camouflaging
Everyone—with or without autism—camouflages at times. If you feel shy about
meeting someone new, you might pretend to be brave even though you do not feel
that way. But for autistic people, camouflaging is not just about acting confident;
many autistic people feel the need to hide their autistic traits in order to avoid
stigma and unwanted attention, but the deeper goal is generally because they want
to make friends and form connections.[2][3][4][5][6] That might include forcing yourself to
make eye contact (masking) or thinking of—and potentially rehearsing—a list of
questions to ask when you meet someone new so you may avoid social faux pas
(compensation).
Some people might camouflage when they are at school or work so that people do
not treat them differently. Some autistics camouflage when they meet new people,
to make a good impression, and maybe a new friend. Others will stop camouflaging
once they get to know someone and think they will accept their natural selves.
Camouflaging isn’t necessarily conscious or deliberate; finding ways to hide
autistic proclivities or trying to be perceived as socially appropriate can happen
even when the autistic person is unaware. In many cases, camouflaging starts out as
a conscious strategy, but quickly evolves into an automatic process. You can read
more on the consequences of that here:
Masking: is it good or bad?
Camouflaging subtypes
Before we get to the CAT-Q scores, we will briefly explain what the CAT-Q
actually measures. The psychometric test is based on the social camouflaging
model,[7] which consists of three subcategories.
Compensation
People use various strategies to camouflage their autism. They might practice
making friendly faces in the mirror, finding it hard to make those faces naturally.
We call this compensation, because these autistic people are compensating for
certain social shortcomings—or rather, differences from the majority group
conventions. Examples:
 Copying and practicing others’ body language or facial expressions.

 Learning social cues and skills from television, films, or books.
 Repeating others’ phrasing and tone.
Masking
Another strategy is masking, where autistic people hide how they are feeling. For
instance, they may copy what someone else is talking about if they do not know
what to say. Examples:
 Monitoring and adjusting your face and body to appear relaxed or interested in
others.
 Feeling pressured to make eye contact.
 Thinking about the impression made on others.
Assimilation
Often autistic people try to fit in with others so they are not bullied or singled out.
This is called assimilation. For example, these people might stand near others in a
crowd but not interact with them. Examples:
 Feeling the need to put on an act while socializing.

 Avoiding interacting with others in social situations.
 Needing others’ support to socialize.
In the diagram below, you can see the three categories and the 25 items that the
CAT-Q measures.
Social camouflaging model. (Diagram: Hull et al.)
Average CAT-Q scores

Higher scores are associated with psychological distress and functional challenges,
so ideally you want your score to be as low as possible. Unfortunately, that is not
likely to be the case if you are autistic; total scores above 100 are indicative of
camouflaging autistic traits.
But that score alone may not be very meaningful to you. Let’s have a look at the
average scores of autistic and non-autistic people, so you get an idea of where the
most significant differences are, as well as whether you score in the autistic or
neurotypical range. The stars (★) denote who got the highest average score in that
category. The average scores are based on a study from 2019 by Laura Hull et al.[8]
❮
Average CAT-Q scores: autistics
Total score 124.35 ★ 109.64 122.00
Compensation 41.85 36.81 43.50 ★
Masking 37.87 ★ 32.90 36.06
Assimilation 44.63 ★ 39.93 39.88
Surprisingly, neurotypical women score the lowest in all categories!
❮
Average CAT-Q scores: neurotypicals
Total score 90.87 96.89 109.44 ★

Compensation 27.18 30.06 35.48 ★
Masking 34.69 36.34 38.70 ★
Assimilation 29.00 30.48 35.26 ★
In the table below, you can see which categories show the greatest differences
between autistics and neurotypicals.
❮
CAT-Q scores: Autistic–neurotypical differences
Total score 33.48 ★ 12.75 12.56
Compensation 14.67 ★ 6.75 8.02
Masking 3.18 −3.44 ★ −2.64
Assimilation 15.63 ★ 9.45 4.62
❯
Camouflaging autistic traits
The higher your camouflaging score, the less autistic you likely appear. And the
less autistic you appear, the more difficult it is to identify your autism.
Consequently, a lot of autistic people that camouflage their autistic traits either
have their diagnosis delayed, are misdiagnosed, or escape diagnosis completely.
[9]
As early as 1981, Lorna Wing, the British psychiatrist and pioneer of autism
practice, hypothesized that some autistic girls without an intellectual disability may
escape diagnosis on account of appearing to have better social and communication
abilities compared to males.[10]
So camouflaging likely accounts—at least in part—for the different ratios of

diagnosis between men and women. But note also that the higher your
camouflaging score, the more likely you are to score lower on other autism tests.
Because the thing about camouflaging is that a lot of us have a long history of
doing it, so a large part of camouflaging becomes second nature. And the trouble
with that is that you may very well camouflage even when doing a psychometric
test. So try to be mindful of that, and try to answer questions on an autism test as
authentically as possible. So that means you should try to answer questions based
on your actual proclivities and preferences, rather than how you behave based on
social expectations.
The CAT-Q can reveal the difference between your true self and the person you
present as when you are with other people. If you score inconsistently on autism
tests, it may be that you are not autistic, but it can also mean you just camouflage
your autistic traits considerably. A trained medical professional should be able to
assess which of the two applies to you, though sadly there are still a lot of medical
professionals who fail to account for camouflaging.

Camouflage CAT Autisme

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CAT-Q

Who the test is designed for

The CAT-Q measures camouflaging in general, as well as three subcategories:

 Compensation — Strategies used to actively compensate for difficulties in social

Taking the test

The 25 statements relate to 3 subcategories of camouflaging:[2]

Interpreting your CAT-Q scores

 Research shows robust psychometric support for the CAT-Q.

My Compensation (strategies used to compensate for difficulties in social

 Total = 143; Compensation = 49; Masking = 52; Assimilation = 45

The choices ‘Strongly Agree’ and ‘Strongly Disagree’ were an unnecessary

Surprisingly, the test results show I camouflage more than I realize:

 Total = 131; Compensation = 41; Masking = 42; Assimilation = 48

However, I wonder if people would meaningfully differentiate

 Total = 121; Compensation = 38; Masking = 34; Assimilation = 49

The self-scoring process is daunting though, especially if you have dyscalculia. I

1. When I am interacting with someone, I deliberately copy their body

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

2. I monitor my body language or facial expressions so that I appear

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

4. I have developed a script to follow in social situations.

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

6. I adjust my body language or facial expressions so that I appear

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

7. In social situations, I feel like I’m ‘performing’ rather than being

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

8. In my own social interactions, I use behaviours that I have learned

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

10. I need the support of other people in order to socialise.

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

11. I practice my facial expressions and body language to make sure

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

13. I have to force myself to interact with people when I am in social

14. I have tried to improve my understanding of social skills by

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

15. I monitor my body language or facial expressions so that I appear

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

16. When in social situations, I try to find ways to avoid interacting

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

17. I have researched the rules of social interactions to improve my

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

19. I feel free to be myself when I am with other people.

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

21. I adjust my body language or facial expressions so that I appear

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

24. In social interactions, I do not pay attention to what my face or

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

25. In social situations, I feel like I am pretending to be ‘normal’.

d. Neither Agree nor Disagree

Rights & permissions

CAT-Q total score

Then, add up all answers for statements 1–25.

Average CAT-Q scores of autistics: Autistic females and autistic non-binary

Average CAT-Q scores of neurotypicals: Surprisingly, neurotypical females

For more information on the correlations with and consequences of camouflaging,

Autism & camouflaging

Interpreting your CAT-Q scores