Do functioning labels matter?

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First of all, it is true that autism is caused by multiple genes and the underlying cause is unknown, and that family members of autistic people often have some mild autistic traits. However, this does not mean that they "almost have autism." Whether or not one is autistic is determined by a medical professional, and this is black and white. The family members of an autistic person, who show some autistic traits, still do not qualify for diagnosis because they do not have all or most autistic traits. They are not "slightly autistic but not enough for diagnosis." They are not autistic. They do have Broader Autism Phenotype (BAP), but BAP does not equal autism. In the same way that the family members of someone with dwarfism can carry the genes for dwarfism but still not be dwarves, the family members of an autistic person can possess some autistic traits but still not be autistic.

Additionally, I get my position from many examples of showing blending between "high functioning" and "low functioning" autistics caused by their environment.

Firstly, it is shown that autistic individuals who undergo therapies such as ABA (not to suggest that ABA therapy is good for autistic people, since it is actually shown to cause PTSD) can with time make autistic children seem "less autistic," to the point where they are actually seen as "not autistic" (source). However, it is common knowledge that autism is a lifelong condition that cannot be cured or lessened because it is based primarily in genetics. So, these children who now seem more "high functioning" CANNOT be less autistic than they were before. They have merely learned the "skills" to mask their autistic traits.

The opposite effect can also be seen, where autistics who were previously seen as "high functioning" can become more "low functioning" due to pressures from their environment. This is called autistic burnout. Have these people somehow become "more autistic"? No. Their masking behaviors have just been deteriorated by environmental pressures.

Additionally, one can see previously "mild" autistics becoming more "severe" during meltdowns. Many "mild" autistics become nonverbal during meltdowns, for example. This shows that the only thing that separates a "mild" autistic from a "severe" autistic is in how much of a "defense" they have put up against entering such a state. A "mild" autistic has the skills to behave in a more neurotypical fashion, while a "severe" autistic does not, but these skills can be either built up or deteriorated by therapy or environmental pressures that cause meltdowns or autistic burnout.

If "severe" autistic + skills learned through therapy = "mild" autistic, and "mild" autistic - skills taken away by environmental pressures = "severe" autistic, then it is clear that "mild" autistic = "severe" autistic + skills, and these skills are the only things that separates a "mild" and "severe" autistic. In all other ways, they are very similar, as shown by examples of "mild" autistics going through autistic burnout and "severe" autistics who have gone through therapy to learn more skills.

I'm not saying that on the surface there are not clear differences between "mild" and "severe" autistics. However, these differences can be attributed to a difference in skills with which to live in society, not a difference in how autistic they are.

Your conclusion does not follow logically from your evidence.

None of the expert authors of any of the articles you link to would agree with your statement that "no autistic is more autistic than any other" nor that "all autistics are equally autistic" nor with with your notion that any variation is only due to training or stress or to ABA.

The fact that some folks go up or down the scale doesn't prove that all autistics are all born at the same point on the autism scale.

I learned to speak at the normal age babies learn to speak. Some infants born into similar environments have speech delays and don't aquire speech to an abnormal later age, or never speak at all. The variations cant be all just from what the environment inflicts on you.

I never intended to imply that all differences in functioning are due to the environment. Some autistics will be naturally more skilled than others. My point is that the difference between “high” and “low” functioning autistics is not in how autistic they are but in their ability to function in society. Both are autistic to an equal degree, but one has skills to live in society that the other does not. When those skills are added or removed due to environmental factors, the “mild” and “severe” autistics will resemble each other more, so the only major difference between them is in how able they are to live in society. Being more unable to live in society does not equate to being more autistic, however. I think that being autistic is binary, but being able to function in society is where there is a spectrum. That’s all I’m trying to say.

Dude ...you're making a distinction without a difference. If autistic A functions better in society than does autistic B then autistic A is indeed "less autistic" than autistic B. An autistic who "naturally more skilled" at acting NT is by definition "less autistic".

I don’t see how functioning in society has anything to do with how autistic someone is. Some autistics can function better in society than others, but that doesn’t make them less autistic. The same is true for neurotypicals. One neurotypical might be in prison and another might be a CEO, but they are both neurotypical.

You are both partially right and partially wrong.

Autistic B might function better than Autistic A in a different society. If Autistic C is in an environment where he is beaten up for not making eye contact, constant group activities are expected and it is constantly noisy Autistic C might do worse the Autistic D who is more autistic but in an Autistic friendly environment. The does not mean there are not different degrees of autism. While exercise can help some people are more athletic than other people. No amount of eyewear is going to make everybody see with 20/20 vision, the best rehab programs won't stop some people from constantly relapsing. Why should this be different with Autism?. Autistic E could be so severely autistic that no amount of autistic friendliness is going to make him functional.

Some people are too "mild" to be autistic some not. We just do not know how to measure it accurately yet. Functionality and observable traits are the best we got for now but they have serious flaws.

All of this confusion is no reason to not make an effort to are more autistic-friendly society or belittle and exclude people for being too "mild". A more autistic-friendly society will help most autistics and NT's with autistic traits.

This is so true

I agree with this as well

I like to think of it like cancer. If Lucy has patches of skin cancer and Jane is laid up in the hospital with stage four lung cancer with tubes and life support, they still both have cancer. Cancer is cancer no matter how severe it is or how mild it might appear. Jane might suffer from it in a more severe way than Lucy does but they still both have it. And if allowed to grow, Lucy's patches of skin cancer could end up killing her while other people who have other forms of cancer could end up in remission. But they all still have cancer.

Actually diabetes is a better example. Everyone has low blood sugar or high blood sugar sometimes. But not everyone is a diabetic. You either are or are not a diabetic. You can be prediabetic or hypoglycemic just like you can be BAP. But a prediabetic or a hypoglycemic is not actually diabetic. But everyone who is diabetic is diabetic, you can't be a little or a lot diabetic. Now you can have type one or type two. You can need insulin or not, you can have it so severely that you have had amputations and take all kinds of meds or you can have it mildly where you don't take anything but just watch your diet. And if you change your dietary factors you can become so mild that your symptoms don't show at all anymore or you can get so bad that you are a ripe mess. Sometimes you might have good days, sometimes you might have bad days. Some people have bad days everyday. Others will have bad days on some days and not others. But no one says one person is more diabetic than another. You either have it or you don't. You can't have a little bit of diabetes. But within the group of people who have diabetes, the core symptoms will be the same, just like with Autism, but the range of symptoms will be all over the place.