What is low-functioning autism like?

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It's nice to see that some people here have some sense of what truly low functioning autism is. People here ferquently say LFA and then describe the middle of the spectrum.

Umm, it would be best not to use her as the only example of LFA. Perhaps look up Carly Fleischmann. There are a couple really good videos on her website. http://carlysvoice.com

When I used to substitute-teach, I worked one day in a self-contained Autistic classroom.
That was eye-opening, oh lord. I had only recently found out about my own status on the Spectrum, and I went into this job with an open mind. I was curious what Autistic kids were like.

These were children who were totally non-verbal. Communication was reduced to grunts and hand gestures. They hit and bit themselves and rocked and swayed and flailed. They had meltdowns if the slightest thing went awry, and were not capable of socialization. Very low functioning. But I saw the similarities.... they stimmed and make noises as I have sometimes. They got obsessed with minute details of objects. It was autism, but to such an overwhelming extent that there was hardly any connection with the outside world. These kids were little island universes, only indirectly reachable, and at great effort.

I also know a woman who has a 2-year-old son who has just been diagnosed with classic Autism, and so were the other 2 who I mentioned earlier in this thread. As a person with mild AS, I didn't even show any symptoms at 2, and I had started school when the symptoms all came out. I was diagnosed at 8, not at 4, because the doctors and therapists and teachers did not know what was wrong, so it took 4 years of proffessional help to suss out what was wrong. At first they didn't even suspect Autism.

From your description, it sounds like they're rather intensely connected to the outside world, likely with very few filters. Why else would they react so strongly to change or focus on minute details of objects?

If you mean it was hard for other people to connect with them, that certainly makes sense, but other people aren't the entirety of the outside world.

It just looks like they're not connected to the world to us. Usually people (including myself) ''judge books by the cover'', which means just because they act in a certain way on the outside, doesn't mean that this is what they're feeling on the inside. NTs do it with me all the time in the street. Just because I (somehow) look stupid and oblivious to things, doesn't mean I am stupid and oblivious to things on the inside. I am actually more self-aware and anxious about the environment around than me than a lot of people. But judging by my blank, unconfident expression I give off, people think they can glare or laugh at me and I wouldn't know. But I do know on the inside. I go home and cry a lot of the times after a long day out in crowds of people misjudging me.

I would imagine it's like that exactly.

I'm very highly aware of a lot more things than others, I do not daydream, I'm hf, I'm hyperactive = I react to A LOT of things. And yet someone told me (I hope I can translate this and preserve the meaning) “you seem to be so shut away within the boundaries of your (sensory) perception”.

As if I'm “not quite there” in the same place as them. That's the best verbal description I got. Though I disagree, naturally.

I can't believe I give off that feeling of disconnection from their world when I do react all the time. If people think that about me, what do they think about someone who gives way less such socially acknowledged reactions/reactions people know not how to decode as easily?

You guys who are talking about nonverbal kids--Remember that just like we did, these kids will learn as they grow older. Maybe they'll get better at speaking; maybe they'll get better at communicating in general, or at taking care of themselves. Maybe they'll develop talents in art or sports or whatever. Yes, they've got severe disabilities, and may always have them, but just remember--these kids will learn, like any kid, and get better at things.

I do know one adult who has pretty severe autism. We used to take the assisted-transport bus together to my university, where he's on the grounds crew as part of a supported-employment program. Most of the time, he doesn't talk; sometimes, he gets out single words. He's a competent part of the grounds crew and seems to be pretty well-liked by his co-workers (all of whom also have developmental disabilities), and lives with his parents. He stims a lot (which is how I know he's autistic; that and the lack of speech and eye contact), and sometimes when he's overloaded, his stimming gets pretty frantic. The bus is ridiculously noisy and I can totally see how that would overwhelm him. It does that to me; when I used to ride it, sometimes I'd whack my head repeatedly against the window (not hard--not hard enough to break it--just sort of a rhythmic thing) because I just couldn't take it anymore. One of the guy's co-workers had befriended him and sometimes got him to calm down a little by saying his name. I guess it gave him something to focus on so his senses wouldn't flood his brain so badly. I don't think he can type or write, because he never carried a communication device--not even PECS cards. Anyway, he seemed like a nice enough guy; but we never really hung out or anything, because the only time we were together, it was on that awful bus and we both had all we could do to survive the ride.

So, maybe some of those kids will grow up to be something like that--reasonably independent, still obviously autistic, but working and doing useful things, forming relationships with other people. Or maybe they'll make huge developmental leaps, learn to type and/or speak, and come to visit WP when they get older; who knows?

About 6 years ago, some relatives that live far away came round to visit, and they had their 4-year-old son with them, who was my second cousin. He was a very, very friendly, chatty little boy, and loved to cuddle you, and had no developmental delays at all, and I assumed he was a typical 4-year-old. But then 4 years later, (2 years ago), my mum got a phonecall from his mum for a chat (since they hadn't seen eachother for 4 years), and she told her that the little boy has been diagnosed with AS. When my mum told me, I was surprised, because he didn't seem like an AS child when he last came over.

So that proves that some mild AS children can start off as a typically developing child, then start showing symptoms after age 4, like I did too. But not sure about severely Autistic children. There can be a difference in development between mild AS children and severely Autistic children. I have researched Autism, and read through some case studies too, and the studies shown similar results. Although every child is different, there are still similar levels of severity that can match the AS or Autistic criteria.

I think it generally depends on the intent behind the use of the word, as with all words really- if somebody came up to me and said "you're so ret*d, your clothes are all wrong and you don't look me in the eye", that would be offensive, but if someone said "the doctor said my son is mentally ret*d because he did badly on an IQ test", that wouldn't be offensive.

I know two people who I would have described as LFA, but they really aren't as bad as half the people described here. Maybe "moderately functioning but dim" would be more accurate (though "dim" doesn't cover it). The more severely affected of the two... he runs everywhere, splatting his feet on the ground so you are sure it is him. He struggles to have a conversation that deviates from a script, he categorises people as "friends", "enemies", and "arch enemies", he repeats things he has been told for many months (not quite like echolocia, but for example, he'll always describe the future or the past as "a hell of a ride" or "a bumpy ride", which is something somebody told him five years ago). He can't really shop for himself, he isn't aware that the girls who give him their phone numbers don't want to mate with him, and he doesn't realise when people are essentially taking the piss out of him (even if categorised as an "arch enemy").

You are kidding, right?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34xoYwLNpvw[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2qX0TKA9lM&feature=related[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9heEujH25o[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8cEtand01w[/youtube]
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xx7ch_ ... ism_people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tito_Mukhopadhyay

etc., etc.

But there's got to be some visual difference between LFA and HFA. Why did Hans Aspergers discover AS in 1994 and the diagnosis is beneficial for a lot of people since, when there isn't any difference between LFA and HFA?

So I could have classic Autism, even though I reached all the milestones the same as all the rest of the kids?

I don't like people banging plates in the kitchen. Is it absolute agony for my ears! But when I'm suffering from agony ears and agitation from the noise of plates clanging, I say, ''ouch - can you stop clanging the plates so loud? Ouch - it's hurting my ears!'' but how would a LFA person react to a noise what is agitating them or hurting their ears? I may get upset at things that NTs wouldn't, but I still react the same way to things as an NT would to other things that would upset them.

I know you didn't ask me this but where did anyone say there isn't any difference?

Also, while Hans Asperger published his study on boys with what he called "autistic psychopathy" in the 1940s, Kanner's research had a few children who - from Kanner's descriptions - were diagnostically indistinguishable from the boys Asperger' described in his own research.

I thought that's where people were getting at here - trying to say that people with severe Autism can be mild like me, and vice versa. Yes, I know we're all different, but there are still some similarities in the levels of severity, even though the personalities are different. It just confuses me, because I was diagnosed with mild AS, and each time I look up AS on Youtube, they're on the same level of severity as me - they can speak with tone of voice and facial expressions, and are more able to hide their AS and look NT, the same as I can do. But when I look at adults with classic Autism, I see they're not very good at hiding their disorder when on camera.
I've got a social event coming up later today, and although I will be really shy and probably won't say much, I still can cope with it, and act like anyone else. I will get things to eat, sit with other people, speak if I'm spoken to, smile, make eye-contact, acknowledge people, and sit still and not stim (well, I don't stim anyway). What would a person with classic Autism act like at a social event where 40 people are going to be in their own garden? Some might go off and hide away, feeling frightened and scared. Some might let themselves be in the social environment, but not be involved in what's going on - just be wondering around not speaking to anyone (I have met an Autistic girl who liked being in social events but didn't look at anyone or speak to anyone or pay attention to anything that was going on - she just prefered to walk around flapping her hands).
My mother wouldn't have to warn anyone that I'm Autistic because I'm not Autistic enough to be unable to hide it. I have a relative with Alzheimer's, and my family have to warn other people about her condition, because she can't always control what she says, and is incontinent, so some people who won't guess can be a little misunderstanding.

I don't think anyone is saying that. I think what's being said in this thread has a lot more nuance. I do think people have pointed out that some children who appear to be "low functioning" may appear to be "high functioning" as adults.



I don't act like anyone else at social gatherings. I am not going to my niece's wedding because I will shut down from too much socializing and likely too many people expecting me to talk to them or justify certain decisions I've made in my life, or assert that their assumptions about me are true (my extended family has been variably judgmental about the fact that I am not straight or Christian, among other things).

The last time I was at a social event, I talked to hardly anyone. I tried to have a conversation with one woman I had met before (who herself has AS), but I ran out of things to say within a few sentences. I stimmed, although I didn't do anything super obvious (I had toys that I use to focus my stimming). I ended up shutting down in a corner for a bit and then meeting someone who shared one of my interests and was actually a fan of some of the writing I'd done professionally - and then I spent two straight hours talking about said interest. I also probably spent a lot of time in one of the bathrooms, away from people.

I don't think I made eye contact with anyone, and I approached maybe two or three people. With the music and the people talking I actually felt bombarded by the presence of other people and only shutting down - or later talking about my interest - could shut any of that out.

I went to the party with someone else, but for various reasons, said someone else left me to fend for myself socially, at which point I abruptly sank. I had been at a previous party with some of the same people, and generally, once I was left to my own devices, my own devices were insufficient to keep me going.

I'd imagine that a child w/ low-functioning autism and/or was nonverbal would be very intelligent, and could be learning from therapy, but can't display their knowledge to SHOW that they've been learning, and that they're as smart as everyone else, because they DON'T HAVE A WAY TO COMMUNICATE!! As a result, in public, they get stared at and people assume that the low-functioning kid is stupid, and said kid gets labeled as "mentally ret*d," and it makes me sick!

I have often avoided social situations, but this time we had one at our house, and I was going to go out but I thought I'd stay instead. While there was, like, 40 people in my garden, I did feel a bit shy, and so I stayed in the kitchen while everyone was arriving, only popping my head out of the door to say hello quickly. I didn't stand right outside with everyone. Then when I did go outside, I felt a little shy at times, and I crept upstairs to where my cat was (because she doesn't like too many people either), and I sat quietly with her for a few minutes, then crept back downstairs. But as the afternoon went on, I got more and more used to the social environment, and so I stayed outside and drank coke or lemonade or juice, and maybe a glass of Champaigne. But even some NT relatives of mine whispered, ''I don't really know some of these people here'', so I wasn't the only shy one.
So when I did feel overwhelmed, I just crept off upstairs to sit with my cat for a few minutes then came back downstairs again. People thought I was just going to the toilet or something.