This is why autism is a spectrum disorder #shorts

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[aaron]

I’d like to note that most autistic individuals, like myself, are NOT okay with anyone saying their autism is an illness.

[theGhostSteward]

Also: autistic people often get along very well with one another. The social pattern of interaction is often just problematic from the neorotipical point of view.

[_BlackPaladin]

Autism advocates prefer High Support Needs, and Low Support Needs (opposed to low / high functioning). Needs can change depending on the day, environment, level of burnout/overwhelm etc - so someone who is considered low support needs, could have high support needs on certain days.

Also, folks tend to overestimate people with low support needs; and underestimate people with high support needs.

[angelamanrique]

I won't repeat what others are saying about how harmful the functioning labels are and how outdated this info can be, but I need to emphasize, autism is NOT illness. As with most of the neurodivergent community, it's a difference of processing the world. Our brains are wired differently and that doesn't mean it's wrong. We're a low ram Linux operative system in an Apple world. Speech and perspective matters. As wise Steve Silverman said, 'By autistic standards, the "normal" human brain is easily distractible, obsessively social, and suffers from a deficit of attention to detail'. I highly recommend his book "Neurotribes". Enlightening. Peace out.

[rinpaisys]

Hey! I appreciate this as someone with ASD, however I would like to add that low and high functioning aren’t really used anymore, the 3-level system is used for diagnosis these days, and the “functioning” labels can be off putting to a lot of us!

[SheenaSpeaks]

I am NOT high FUNCTIONING.
I am HIGH MASKING.
Please consider dropping functioning labels, as they actually make it much more difficult for folks like me.
I APPEAR to behave like a "high functioning" individual unless I have to exist around you longer than a few hours.
In reality it's CRIPPLING.

[melissaa.]

As someone who is ADHD & Autistic.. I was told by many people I don't look Autistic. Because I mask, I struggled all my life with school and work. I tried working and wasn't able to actually stay. Truama is something that makes it really hard to function as well.

Please listen to Autistic voices, I am extremely low functioning. I struggle with cooking, cleaning, self-care, socializing, paying bills etc.

Low and high functioning, honestly this is so... Invalidating.

[Lilyyy]

I’d like to see more about the difference between autism in boys and girls. I read that almost exclusively boys were studied for research and girls can be better at masking, so they are under-diagnosed.

[CongenitalArtDefect]

There is no high/low functioning and we are not ill. We are autistic

edit: in the uk asd is referred to in support levels instead of functionality e.g. People in level 1 require minimal support in their day to day lives. People in level 2 may need a classroom assistant in school. And people in level 3 need full time support

[Sparkoflight]

IBS. Joint pain. Pain In my feet and my hands. Nausea. Dizziness. Fatigue. Adhd. Depression. Anxiety. Zero support. Thank you for this video.

[budgetforsuccess]

As an autistic person I will say you explained this well. I do want to say that’s not an illness and the functioning labels make it harder to live life. As someone seen as high functioning people assume I can just handle life but I actually need a lot of help.

[YummyyWater]

It's important to remember autism is NOT an illness as she unfortunately said once in the video, it's just a different way your brain works

Edit: hey people, I just saw the caos that has unraveled under my comment so I'm gonna clear some things off Incase someone comes across this currently.

A mental disorder shares the same qualities as a mental Illness but ARE different. I don't want to make this text longer than it has to be so I'll refrain from that.

Let me make a few things clear:
I have autism myself
Autism is a developmental disorder and is a disability
I know people who have it worse than I do, and trust me I know it's not some "quirky little thing" but it is also not some illness that is horrible and should be curable.
When I wrote this comment a year ago I did not expect anyone to see it, and what I meant was simply that it was an incorrect term for autism and I overall just didn't like the wording.
I know autism is different for everyone and for people with more difficulties than I, my heart does go out to them. Every day is hard to get through already for me, I cannot imagine how hard it must be for others with more difficulties.

Also one more thing, please do not support autism speaks and the puzzle "representing" autism. I'm not gonna spend my time explaining why, so feel free to search it up on YouTube, I know a lot of YouTubers who spreads information and awareness about it

[christineh]

But you forgot to mention that there is also a mix of these too.. I’m both high and low functioning.. or low/high support need in different ways. I used to be very high functioning until I got burnt out by life.. maybe this info is not good as a short video. It’s too complex. I like your mental health videos otherwise and would like a more elaborated version of this, maybe for people who don’t know much about autism. I have it myself and people don’t really notice much from what I’ve heard. Im just considered a bit “quirky” 😅 it’s good that you said we interact in unusual ways instead of “incorrect or bad ways” that I’ve seen many medical sources call it. My best advice is to find medical professionals who see the uniqueness and charm with autism rather than treating it as an incurable disease. It is hard to live with but I don’t think stuff like social skills training work. It just gets too fake. It’s better to get out there and try to meet people who have the same special interests as you and then learn social skills from there

[melithegamer]

Idk about using a low to higher functioning scale but thanks for talking about us. 😃
Personally I think I’m a good example of someone who you might think is high functioning because of my intelligence and ability to speak and socialize etc. but I actually I still need much support taking care of myself and working which would be considered low functioning. I can go from speaking to non speaking depending on my environment.
It’s just way too profound and personal to be put on a scale

[crazy_box]

The autism spectrum is not a line it is a circle and people need different support needs

[Jordan-hkck]

I’d like to say, as an autistic person, “levels” of autism, do not even BEGIN to describe the autism spectrum. People have different levels and kinds of sensitives, for different things. One person may be hypo-sensitive to some things and hypersensitive to other things.
“Levels” of autism, describe how much OTHER people, experience someone’s autism. Diagnosis is typically based off of how someone behaves, and they might not even ask the actual person getting diagnosed, about specific things (which is my experience) (and even if they do, you can only name so many things off the top of your head. it’s very difficult, for autistic people especially, to put into words how we feel and think differently.)
The ASD diagnosis is also made for (cisgender) males, which leaves a vast amount of us undiagnosed, or misdiagnosed for a very long time. (*misdiagnosed as in wrong ‘level’, diagnosis other than autism, and just not being diagnosed with autism.)
There are many flaws about how autism is diagnosed, which is very important to be said.

[Hi_Im_Akward]

Important to remember that "high functioning" does NOT mean we don't need support. Often we are viewed this way and subsequently denied support and care were needed. The support is not as much as a "low functioning" autistic person but support is often still necessary.

And I shouldn't have to say this, but regardless of the disability, we are people. Disabled people are people. We deserve dignity and respect just like everyone else.

[BA-jizh]

Functioning labels only serve to accomplish one thing:

To deny agency or to deny support.

[Zidrazia]

I read an excellent article on neuroclastic called '“Autism is a Spectrum” Doesn’t Mean What You Think' by C. L. Lynch and I think you would really benefit in your understanding of autism if you gave it a read. Essentially, autism is a spectrum doesn't mean it's a sliding scale from "high functioning" to "low functioning". This is looking through ableist eyes how well we can fit into or how much of a burden we are to a society that isn't built for us. If we had adequate support, far more autistics would be "high functioning". A more accurate term for the dichotomy you're trying to describe with functioning (unrelated to spectrum, that's a different thing entirely) is high or low support needs.

[allisonbrown]

The terms “low and high functioning” were created originally to describe someone with an IQ above or below 70, identifying severe mental impairment. The terms most commonly associated with ASD functioning now is describing the severity of traits that impact daily functioning.