My dad likely had Asperger's. (Undiagnosed, but pretty much 100% he did). I have close friends with children who are very autistic. (Not completely non-verbel, but they say very few words and are still more likely to have a screeching meltdown than talk.)
My dad was highly successful; a leader in his industry and did a great job supporting us. His life was relatively easy (as easy as life can be in general) and he was a contributing member of society.
We love my friends kids to death and they do have many positive things going for them, but they will likely never be able to live on their own. Even if they do, they are in for a very hard life. They will likely always need to be supported by family and will likely never be contributing members of society.
To lump both those together is insane. It drives me crazy when people who are functional members of society run around laughing about how they are "autistic". I can't think of anything more disrespectful to those who can never have a "normal" life.
With that being said, I do recognize that medically there is a spectrum. I, as someone with ADHD am likely on that spectrum somewhere as well, from how the science is sounding these days. We need to make this spectrum obvious and respectful though. Why can't we classify a level or something? For example "Autistic level 1" for Asperger's, "Autistic level 2" for barely verbal, "Autistic level 3" for non-verbel... Something like that, so we can unite the cause, but still differentiate the effects and potential outcomes.
> It drives me crazy when people who are functional members of society run around laughing about how they are "autistic".
A lot of us low-support-needs autistic people are functional members of society right up until we aren't (i.e., until we've been masking for too long while dealing with sensory stressors and One More Little Thing pushes us into the "screeching meltdown" or renders us temporarily nonverbal). And a lot of us have "normal" lives only in as much as you only see the normal parts.
It's kind of fair to divide things up by support level, but you then also have to understand that there are a lot of different support needs people have and they can look very different at the same "level".
These levels exist since the DSM-5, which is not yet in use everywhere:
The DSM-5 introduced three ASD levels of severity: level 1 (“requiring support”), level 2 (“requiring substantial support”), and level 3 (“requiring very substantial support”).
> Why can't we classify a level or something? For example "Autistic level 1" for Asperger's, "Autistic level 2" for barely verbal, "Autistic level 3" for non-verbel... Something like that
Congratulations, the DSM-5 must have heard you talking :) It does have levels for autism, and classifies the levels in terms of support required:
- Level 1: Requiring support
- Level 2: Requiring substantial support
- Level 3: Requiring very substantial support
> To lump both those together is insane.
I'm diagnosed with ADHD and also clearly on the spectrum. This life has been decades of confusion and--finally--answers & discovery. My time with my son--diagnosed as Level 1 autistic--and my time observing people in Level 2 and level 3 makes me realize that what you say about lumping everything together is spot on. I always feel like our diagnoses make life oh so difficult, but then I see what parents and guardians of Level 3 autistic people go through and have nothing but endless empathy.
My dad was highly successful; a leader in his industry and did a great job supporting us. His life was relatively easy (as easy as life can be in general) and he was a contributing member of society.
We love my friends kids to death and they do have many positive things going for them, but they will likely never be able to live on their own. Even if they do, they are in for a very hard life. They will likely always need to be supported by family and will likely never be contributing members of society.
To lump both those together is insane. It drives me crazy when people who are functional members of society run around laughing about how they are "autistic". I can't think of anything more disrespectful to those who can never have a "normal" life.
With that being said, I do recognize that medically there is a spectrum. I, as someone with ADHD am likely on that spectrum somewhere as well, from how the science is sounding these days. We need to make this spectrum obvious and respectful though. Why can't we classify a level or something? For example "Autistic level 1" for Asperger's, "Autistic level 2" for barely verbal, "Autistic level 3" for non-verbel... Something like that, so we can unite the cause, but still differentiate the effects and potential outcomes.