What makes you level 2 instead of level 1 autism?

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Unable to talk
Unable to eat
Could not walk till recently
Recent therapy goals he has achieved are clapping hands, holding objects

How old is he?

It would be hard to deny him services should he be this "low-functioning."

Does he self-injure?

5
Sure but you are thinking as though everyone is an upright person.

Services were not exactly denied
They figured i wouldn’t pick up on the LACK of them but i did

They cited everything from administration issues to his ‘lack of focus’ as reasons. However to sit in front of a child and let him finger paint hand over hand is very basic stuff that cannot be excused . He did it last year. He did such things at home.
To strap him down etc was their convenience

There are many flaws in the system in Canada, among them delays, waitlists etc, his therapy program at home was another story. She promised things and did not follow through. We are now transferring.

I know what you mean.

Parents frequently have to fight for optimum services for their children. It's a hard road, dealing with the bureaucracy who don't really understand autism too well.

I wish we had more parents of Level 3 autistic people here. There used to be a few a few years ago.

They provide a different perspective. They get irritated with the folks who don't want a "cure" for autism sometimes. They might get a little angry at "higher-functioning" people whom they feel don't understand the trials parents go through with Level 3 autism.

Severe autism is a different ballgame to less severe autism.

I know...because I had a friend growing up whose older brother was severely autistic, nonverbal, I'm not sure if he was toilet-trained, either, when he was an older child. He eventually wound up in a nice group home.

Just to read someone being understanding of this is so good. It is a hard road.
My Ex H made it harder so I guess that added to the issues. He downplayed and hid things as well in fact he is still presenting 2 realities one in person and one for ‘paper trail’ where he lies about things. It was in his best interest, monetarily speaking, to do so.

Thank God I have a smart sister and lawyer who both helped and gave a lot of advice on all fronts.


As an ‘Aspie’ I am constantly second-guessing my judgement and afraid of misreading the situation. Now I will use this awesome forum to get other perspectives and advice!

How is he as far as toilet training is concerned?

Does he respond to you when you call his name?

Do you ever go on YouTube? There are quite a few "Vlogs" which have people with Level 3 Autism, and their parents, as primary participants. You can get tips from them on how to take care of your son.

This does not mean you don't know how to take care of your son. But it's always better to get another perspective on things.

Last edited by kraftiekortie on 20 Dec 2017, 10:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Currently diapers. He sometimes looks now. This is after therapy. Before he never responded.

There's a person here, named Ezra, who was completely nonverbal and non toilet-trained at age 5. But....at about age 8, things blossomed for him (probably through his intensive therapy).

He's 17 now. He's almost nonverbal as far as speech is concerned----but he certainly writes well. He went from Level 3 to Level 2.

I, myself, didn't speak until I was 5 1/2 years old.

Wow really? That’s awesome.
Also I saw your edited post with added tips - i will look into it! Thanks a lot!

You have my deepest sympathy. There is a skewed sample on this forum and I do find high functioning supremacist Aspies at times rather tiresome. It must be lovely to function so well that you know you are effortlessly superior to people without autism. I'm not level 3 but being level 2 is not exactly a walk in the park. At times people have given me a hard time when I say if I had known I could pass it on, I would never have had children. It's not because I don't love them but because I do. My eldest is level 2 like me and he is remarkable but his life will never be easy and I know I am to blame. I hurt someone I love more than life itself. If I could change it for him I would in a heartbeat. Not a politically correct view around here though. I don't know how I would have coped with having a level 3 child. I like to think love would have helped me find a way.
Still I'm glad you found us here. I hope you will find all the support you need.

Thanks!
Well your eldest is definitely blessed to be raised by someone willing to do the research and compassionate enough to feel that way. I hope as new research comes out anc public awareness, then accommodations increase and the system improves. So our kids’ lives will be better than we foresee.

My parents have had to go through a lot of stuff with lawyers and fighting insurance companies and all that. They got pretty lucky I guess when it came to doctors and therapists. They also got advice from occupational therapists and read books and stuff to deal with me more effectively.

I had delayed walking also and even after I started walking I still needed to be in a stroller a lot for any kind of long term walking like at a mall because I would fall down too much etc. I was wearing diapers into my teens just in case. Even being toilet trained it's easy to have wetting accidents when level 2/3 autistic.

I didn't quite blossom at 8, but started functioning a little better. It started with acknowledging people and saying the odd one syllable word here and there. And stuff like that gradually improved over the course of a couple of years where I started testing more as level 2 moderate/severe overall.

He certainly does , he writes better than me and I'm level 1 ( I think ) and have 29 years more experience

It's my "savant" thingy. It comes from reading a lot. I'm usually "channeling" whatever author I'm reading, so I wouldn't be surprised if my style of writing changes. But I type slow as hell and rely heavily on spell check.

Thank you for sharing! This gives me hope!! My son also ADORES books though he cannot read he just loves them - I am thinking maybe Reading/Writing can be HIS savant thing too! Thanks and stay rad!

I have tried roughly a dozen or so different jobs and couldnt maintain employment. It would take the absolute best case scenario for me to live independently without supports, not just disability income(I live with my parents at 31 and have been on disability since 2007). I can drive and grocery shop(though unlikely reliably enough to live on my own), maintain a conversation some of the time and struggle socially at other times, I may appear to be higher functioning than I am. I was labeled level 2 after going through the most extensive autism assessment available.

I have a number of chronic illnesses which also impact my ability to function and the supports that I require. I am neither high nor low functioning.