difference between high medium and low functioning autism

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Where on the spectrum would you place yourself?
I am high functioning 69%  69%  [ 64 ]
I am medium functioning 19%  19%  [ 18 ]
I am low functioning 3%  3%  [ 3 ]
I have a child with high functioning autism 6%  6%  [ 6 ]
I have a child with medium functioning autism 1%  1%  [ 1 ]
I have a child with low functioning autism 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
I am neurotypical 1%  1%  [ 1 ]
Total votes : 93

StarTrekker
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11 Feb 2015, 4:36 pm

I have an IQ that's too split to be measured accurately (nonverbal: 94, verbal: 134) but both subscores are within the average to gifted range. I attend university full time and will be graduating with a bachelor's degree in psychology this spring; I intend to go back for my master's after a year or so to develop work experience. I also have a part time job decorating cakes at Wal-Mart, and drive independently.

That said, I didn't get my driver's license until I was 21, and still live at home with my parents. I don't know how to cook beyond using a microwave and a stove top to heat things up (although I'm pretty good at homemade desserts), don't know how to pay bills or clean a house, or even recognise (beyond picking things up off the floor and putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher) when it needs cleaning. I can do laundry, but forget about it and leave it in the washer for so long that it gets musty and needs washing all over again, and I'm inconsistent with personal hygiene (brush my teeth once a day, but go for days at a time before realising I need a shower.) I like to think I'd probably get by okay if I had to live alone, but the overwhelm at having to remember everything that needs doing and when it needs doing by may prove too challenging to do independently.


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QuantumChemist
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11 Feb 2015, 11:24 pm

darkphantomx1 wrote:
I'm high functioning. I have average intelligence. I got my drivers license when I was 17 which is actually a lot earlier than people with HFA. In high school there was only me and one other kid out of 17 people with Aspergers who drove to school. Even when older, a good percentage of 20 year old autistics dont have their drivers license.


Interesting point that I had not thought about. I am high functioning with a gifted IQ and can relate to what you wrote. I got my drivers license at age 18, after much prodding from my parents to do so. It was strange at the time as I wanted to get a car for the status (as everyone else had one), but not for actually using it for an intended purpose of driving somewhere. (My family relayed that I would need one for college and they were right.) While in high school, I walked four blocks to it and back everyday, even after I got my license and car. Since I was the outcast of the school, I had no parties or events that I needed to go to. It was just school and home (where I worked on my own side projects).



darkphantomx1
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12 Feb 2015, 10:10 am

Who needs parties? Just join an online clan in your favorite game and go pking or raiding.



Kiriae
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12 Feb 2015, 12:43 pm

I'm high functioning.

My IQ is in above average, close to gifted range. I graduated a college. I am attending next one. I have a driving license. I am capable of working. My daily self-help skills are fine, technical abilities are even above average. I can take care of myself and I am responsible enough to be left alone with pets or a kid under my care. I am verbal, I can speak even during a shutdown episode(my functioning gets limited but I am still able to say: yes, no, I don't know, I'm tired, Leave me alone). And I am able to ask for help when I need one, actually I am more prone to do it than some NTs because I lack the fear of talking to a stranger.

Yet I struggle with getting a job(I never worked - other than as a trainee) and moving out of parents house. My parents had to sign me into the college schools because I couldn't figure out how to do it myself. I didn't go to a college in another city like all my classmates because I couldn't imagine myself renting a room and living without any supervision. I can't even go to a doctor by myself when I am sick because I don't know which one I am supposed to see and how to book an appointment. I am afraid of using public transport. My social circle is nearly non-existant. I am surrounded by strangers wherever I go. Even in my school I know the names of only 3 people in my class despite attending there about 1,5 of year already in a small group of 10.



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12 Feb 2015, 8:21 pm

I have had jobs but they're through a program which helps teens get jobs. My first job was when I was 17 right after my junior year. Lets see iv'e had 4 jobs so far and I am about to leave my 4th. I'm going to be getting my first job out of the program soon. Probably at a restaurant where I will be a buss boy.



Candi1291
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30 Apr 2015, 5:30 pm

I am considered "low-functioning". I did not speak until I was nearly 16, cannot live independently, and need help with everyday tasks. But I am not intellectually disabled ..I have a normal IQ. Many non-speaking autistic people and those who are considered low-functioning are not ID, they just simply cannot tell anyone of what they really know.



Agemaki
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01 May 2015, 8:40 am

I was an early talker (starting around 8 months) and I have generally excelled in school. One major problem I have had is speed-related. I process information very slowly and therefore responding to questions or otherwise composing an answer in timed settings has given me great difficulty. Since I was not diagnosed until I was 24, I had to compensate by spending hours memorizing and rehearsing beforehand. If class ever required that I respond spontaneously, I would be out of luck and my teachers and classmates were frustrated with me because they knew that I knew the answers.

I also have difficulty with motor skills with the result that I will never be able to drive and can only be independent if I live in a city with adequate public transportation. Fortunately I currently do and though the bus systems can be a bit overwhelming my autistic husband helps me and with our powers combined together we are fairly functional. We both tend to get lost easily and get overwhelmed in crowded places. We have learned to recognize the warning signs in each other and help each other out as best we can. I see him as being kind of like a security blanket and just having a familiar person with me can be calming. We also try to encourage each other to make social connections though we are not very good at it. Sometimes I wonder about how we will support ourselves financially in the long-run since most of our income comes from disability services. We are both fairly educated and I am hoping that at some point we can find work that utilizes our talents, since we would like to be more financially stable and have a child at some point.

I suppose we are high functioning, particularly when we are together as we compensate for each other's difficulties.



AwdiKei
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01 May 2015, 9:00 am

I feel like, although I am insanely good at facial recognition, empathy, and verbal memory, I am in some ways much lower-functioning/more challenged/less neurotypical/less social than the average HFA individual. I'm not sure if I can consider myself autistic or not.
I am also very mathematically challenged.
Any thoughts?


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01 May 2015, 11:22 am

Between mid and high-functioning


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01 May 2015, 12:24 pm

Functioning levels can and do change though


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Lumi
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02 May 2015, 12:56 pm

Mine is by based on behaviors and delayed functioning. People see autism or mistake it for intellectual disabilities.


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SkyHeart
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02 May 2015, 5:18 pm

this is not true. I have full time support. I can not live on my own with out support. I can not go to a place with out support. I can not cross a road by myself. I can not drive. I can not have a job. I have violent tantrums. I have some trouble with talking. some of my intelligence is like a 7 year old. some in like a person who is gifted. I have high functioning autism.



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02 May 2015, 7:24 pm

I honestly think it varies. I mean, I chose medium-functioning because it's in my IQ range. Yet, I'm actually quite intelligent in certain areas. I actually can't hold down a job, cook or clean either. I require frequent support from my parents to do those things, and it's hard for them because both my parents have their own share of issues. I also have a hard time handling money and being able to be more independent. I rely on my parents A LOT to do things for me at times. Even something as simple as unclogging a toilet. I have a huge amount of issues with executive functioning, and I have other problems that I think aren't all related to just autism alone. I don't really have sensory issues unless it's individual things like sirens or thunder or something. I do know how to dress myself, use the bathroom and do most daily living skills with ease.

I think it depends on the person too. There are some who don't have any issues functioning intellectually. While, there are others with more severe forms that do. You also have people like me who are on the border. I have what's considered borderline intellectual functioning. Depending on what I'm doing, it can also be considered as being mild. I also act very childish and immature at times. I watch Disney Junior all of the time too, and I also carry around a security blanket. I'm like a child trapped in an adult's body.


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sepikmari
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02 May 2015, 10:59 pm

Being high functioning is really tough. Because, after years of learning how, I can hold down a serious job (in surgery), people expect me to be "normal". They don't get that just because I've learned to 'fake it' barely enough to hold down a job, that it isn't an excruciatingly stressful experience for me. I also have no friends, not at work or outside. They don't know that at the end of the day I can't wait to get home, draw the curtains, silence my phone (not that people call me anyway), turn off all sounds (no music or TV) and just decompress from all the inflow of distraction during the day.

If I were low functioning I think I would be much happier because people would accept the way I am. I wouldn't have to pretend to be something I'm not at work. My neighbor said to me yesterday, "People should treat you the same way they'd treat somebody in a wheelchair." Please tell me what that's supposed to mean.

The only relationship I ever had was with a wonderful man who happened to be a quadriplegic. He did not judge me and was more pure in spirit than ambulatory people. I never said, "my boyfriend is in a wheelchair." I did say, "This is my boyfriend who just happens to be in a wheelchair."



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02 May 2015, 11:10 pm

darkphantomx1 wrote:
High Functioning: Those with high-functioning always have at least normal intelligence and often have way above normal intelligence. Verbal skills are usually normal but their non-verbal skills are not as good compared to a neurotypical. Those with high-functioning are capable of living independently, holding down a job, and even getting married. However because of their social skills challenges, they may have a hard time getting a job. They appear "normal" to untrained neurotypicals but may be accused of being nerdy, rude, uninterested, or weird because of their differences.


That one is sort of the closest....except I cannot hold down a job, have yet to live completely independently though soon may be in a living situation with room-mates/friends rather than my moms house. I cannot say I appear normal even to untrained neurotypicals, most people seem to think I seem a bit odd at least....I have gotten those accusations before as well. I also have sensory issues, a seemingly lower threshold for stress which has not really helped me cope with anything in life, executive function difficulties and plenty of symptoms you did not mention. Also I was able to graduate highschool and made it to college(though I dropped out), but I also have major learning difficulties in math and cannot even pass a remedial college math course.


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03 May 2015, 10:56 am

btbnnyr wrote:
In autism studies, higher language ability and higher IQ often go together, as does higher adaptive functioning.


If you use the Weschler's IQ tests, they do. If you use Raven's Progressive Matrices (which doesn't require language), they don't.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4287210/

(Note: not all autistics score higher on the RPM, as that study implies. People with NVLD typically score lower on that test. But either way, my point stands.)