'High Functioning' Autism EXPOSED

Some people are very keen on describing me as a "high functioning" autistic adult, and they're not always trying to be nice. So if that's what I am, what's "high functioning" autism actually like?
#EngageAutism #AutismAcceptance #actuallyautistic

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00:00 Introduction
01:20 What do YOU think?
02:22 1984
03:07 Masks
04:39 Gut feeling
05:53 Alexithymia
07:57 Interoception
08:57 The Hunger Games
11:07 Tired yet?
14:57 Ups & downs
15:45 Medicine
16:33 Core traits
18:03 To be fair

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[marieugorek]

Based on the fact that people keep telling me that I must be high functioning, it means "the type of support you need is unavailable, so we will pretend you don't need supports."

[wualli]

No matter how hard I try to mimic being neurotypical, I always gravitate back to being my autistic self. The non autistic is never going to get it. It's like trying to describe the color green to somebody that has never seen. Furthermore, with an increasingly narcissistic world it makes it that much harder for them to understand what we go through.

[chromaframeyt]

"High functioning" is a quite telling expression. It doesn't mean things are working well for us and we have a happy life. It's just a measurement of how much or little we annoy our NT environment. I'm currently going another round of being vilified at work for what's basically just an autistic response to a less-than-perfect working environment. I've openly asked for help, explained to them what I would need to function in the way they're expecting, and all I get is reprimand, noticeably coming from someone who is generally perceived as helpful, compassionate and generous. SSDD.

[rivrwter]

I remember a creator sharing their experience. Once they got home, they couldn't take care of themselves, just completely break down upon not being around people to keep up appearances. And people called them high functioning. It doesn't really describe how much you suffer, or how competent you are, but how much you bother the people around you, how noticeable your autism is to them. It's why I hate the terms.

[ninabrownsilberman]

"Hi functioning autism" means you are masking well enough that your support needs are invisible so that others can ignore them.

[alpha.male.Xtreme]

I hate being 'high functioning', it means people expect me to do the same things as a neurotypical with little reprieve or consideration.

[lrwiersum]

I’m high functioning. It’s STRESSFUL !! I don’t whine, I don’t complain but boy, I STRUGGLE !! Don’t feel sorry for me, I don’t. Not one little bit. I absolutely LOVE being uniquely myself. I have lived an interesting life and managed to raise a darn happy family. I have 2 awesome adult children and 9 grandchildren. I live BLISSFULLY alone. I’m free to do as I please. It’s wonderful !! I’m 66 years old and diagnosed at 65. My ENTIRE life made sense then. Anywho, I’m a happy camper. If you’re struggling don’t surrender !! You’ll get there.

[cai_nwa_ogu]

People are high functioning.... until they aren't....

[pokemoncha]

man, I feel the "not being tired until I'm suddenly dead tired" thing. It's part of what got me to go into a severe burnout twice in a row 6-ish years ago. First time it happened, I started feeling a bit better after a while, and people encouraged me to go back to school, so I did, not realizing I was still fully in burnout mode. I burnt out "again" halfway through the school year, but pushed through anyways... and now, I'm literally always dog tired, even 6 years later. My window of "feeling fresh", which used to be unpredictable but could at least last me a whole day, has gone down to 1-3 hours at max.

Lots of things are very recognizable in this video honestly, but that one stood out the most. I was considered a high functioning autist for most of my early adult life (only got a diagnosis at 17), but then I crashed so hard I quite literally cannot do what I once could. I still have a lot of the "traits" of a "high functioning autist", and am considered as much by new people when they meet me during my "feeling fresh" moments because I'm very efficient at masking, but it has left me unable to work "normal" jobs because I am always. So. Exhausted. I'm good at masking, sure, but I'm practically falling asleep on my feet half the time.

And yet people are always surprised when I tell them this, haha. I'm not fishing for pity, but I've heard many similar stories among my "high functioning" autistic peers. Just wanted to share my own

[karenyendall]

Thanks so much for this, Quinn

I'm late identified (and a previously) very deeply masked female.

Your content is helping me join the dots in terms of my authentic core because my real self is just now emerging.

At age 59, I'm finally getting to know who I am and how my system naturally operates without the suppression and contortion.

Listening to you feels validating and normalising and supports me in self acceptance.

This feels precious and holy.

Please keep on keeping on 🙏🏾

[ExkupidsMom]

I loathe the term "high functionin, " but I'm also not delighted with "low support needs, " either. I mask so hard I didn't even know I was autistic until I was 60, so I never had any support, but that absolutely does not mean I had low support needs? No. It means my needs went unmet for the majority of my life and I had no choice but to suck it up.

[itisdevonly]

As a fellow "high functioning" autistic, I really appreciate you making this video. People see I'm intelligent and articulate, and they have no idea the kinds of struggles I deal with daily, just because I'm good at hiding it. Although, more often, it's just a case of being so socially isolated that no one actually knows anything about my life. They see me in small doses and have no idea what my lived experience is. They just make assumptions about everything they don't see. I could tell them I'm autistic, but as so few people have any understanding of what that actually implies, it's generally not worth it. It's more effective to explain the specific struggles and accommodations I need, than to act as if bundling them together in the package of "autism" will make it more understandable to others. The reality is generally the opposite.

[lisawanderess]

"When you've gone all 'autistamatic' on something" 😂 not only is this the most accurate description of those monotropic states, but also tickled my funny bone because another one of my quirks is creating my own words to describe things and feelings that I am unable to find any actual English words to explain.
I so appreciate this video as I share almost every one of these same issues as you and most of them are challenges nobody else sees, so it's always helpful to find other members of the tribe, so thank you❤

[phillipmitchell]

I'm high masking, not high functioning. Shit life syndrome has severely limited my executive function.

[morgainebrigid]

This describes me so much. The gastro issues and the migraines have gotten much worse in recent years as I've gotten older.
(I'm now 62). I've had to quit my job and seek disability because the migraine is now 24/7 and I can't look at a computer screen. Using my phone right now is taking a toll on me. I was diagnosed at age 58, but it's been obvious to me all my life that something was off about me. One big problem is that when there's a crisis, people think I don't care or don't realize it's a crisis, when I'm actually staying calm so I can deal with the crisis. The more other people lose their heads, the calmer I get in order to balance them out, and that makes them even crazier.

[theunintelligentlydesigned]

Thank you. I'm not autistic but I've been accused of being autistic simply because I'm a loner and feel uncomfortable in social situations. However, my social awkwardness is due to PTSD. I also have cerebral palsy but some people try to convince me that I don't have cerebral palsy. Instead, they keep coming up with other diagnoses to try to attach to me.

I don't fully understand autism but thanks to videos like yours, I'm learning how to tell people, "I'm not autistic because I don't have this and I don't have that and I don't have the other."

[ar.a]

Many Neurotypicals are "High Functioning" also 🤷🏻‍♂️

We've all had to deal with Neurotypicals on the lower end of their spectrum 🙊

[lilijagaming]

Omg, the anesthesia at the dentist. Stars very slowly and then half of my face is numb for the rest of the day. Alcohol also only makes me sleepy.

As for the "high functioning". I know I need some concept to convey to people why I am not like what they think autism is. But it's true that high functioning is not true cause functioning is an every day battle. However, I think I am fine with "high masking". It describes what I do when I'm around people and that my struggle is mostly invisible to everyone else. I totally agree that it isn't about sympathy. I don't want freebies from people. I would like something like understanding. Even tho I know people will not get 100% of me... even I don't get 100% of me in concepts that are sharable with other humans. I guess I mostly would like less judgement.

Few days ago I was talking with my dad and he told me that for most of my life he assumed I am just lazy but now he starts to understand that there is another reason. He used to tell me that I am lazt very often and it hurt me cause I knew it was not true... I just didn't know why I just couldn't do the stuff people just seem to do with not so big amount of effort. Now, since I know why and I talk about it with people around me, even my father understood that there is another reason. And that is totally enough for me. I know he will not feel it - especially since I think my neurodivergence comes mostly from my maternal grandmother. My mom is also most likely neurodivergent but we differ more than me and my grandma. I still remember when I was a kid my grandma told me that she knows my dad is critical of her that there is mess in many parts of her house. And she sees the mess but had to learn to ignore it because she lacks the energy to address it. This is exactly my experience with messy flat right now. Probably what makes it more complex is that it seems that I am AuDHD and my partner most likely is ADHD. Get 2 people who suck at cleaning in such a way that doesn't drain all living energy out of them. I mean I am capable of cleaning stuff so can my partner if the impuls flares at the right moment. If I focus on a thing I will do it perfectly. But there is so many things and so little energy to spare. When I was younger I tried to force thru it. But then I just couldn't anymore. I would like my flat to be clean. But I know throwing more energy into cleaning will not solve this issues. I need to figure out some ways to manage it all enough.

Ah yeah, I will stop myself now since I just got into the typical "I can talk about my autism with no end" mode and I would actually like to do something else :D

[jamesheartney]

Thank you so much for this. My 25 year old daughter was recently diagnosed as autistic (no surprise, she'd thought she had autism for years, but she wanted an actual diagnosis). She's a pretty unstoppable person, doing well in her chosen career of musical theatre, and I couldn't be prouder of her. I'm going to bookmark this video for any of her well-meaning relatives who will say she's high-functioning.

[RachelNitsche]

high function = being great at acting like an NT for a limited time and always hoping the curtain goes down before the mask slips but nobody shouts cut and there is no curtain unless you are alone

A lot of things you said could easily describe me and my life and all the things happened to me like my employment history ... Why did you leave your last job? ... me: well actually I didn't leave ..they just decided that my autism isn't hidden enough ... Thank you for the video .. that was a great summary .. Sorry me not so great with words at the moment as I had a really hard day