Why High Functioning Autism is So Challenging

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Double minded.

As in the middle of listening to a friend share.
Thinking
A. This is what regular people do
B. Should I talk now
C. Should I ask for clarification cause I'm getting lost
D. Listening to all the other conversations in this restaurant is distracting
E. I shouldn't be shoulding on myself
F. Think this is much easier at work

In my opinion, being high-functioning (I am undiagnosed but suspect high-functioning Aspie) stops people from thinking of one as having a 'condition' or 'neurological developmental disorder', and causes them to perceive one as rude, weird, but essentially normal. I find it comparable to being an Atheist (which I am). In majority-Christian countries (like Australia), people are taught to respect other faiths, even if they don't agree; however, they don't feel the need to respect Atheists and their views, simply because we don't believe in a religion. Instead of viewing us as people who do not believe in a God, many see us (to my perception) as Christians who have stopped worshipping and believing in God/Jesus. They don't respect our religious position as being essentially different to theirs.

As people with HF Autism aren't always obviously handicapped (as opposed to somebody with severe Autism or a physical disability etc.), people don't feel the need to respect the challenges we face.

Many of the issues that I have are very mild to the point of not bothering me such as hyper sensitivities are very mild as is the hyposensitivities but the executive functioning, short term memory & uneven intelligence are major major factors for me as is depression and anxiety.

The depression is really bad as in it never truly goes away at all. I just leaned to live with it.

Short term memory is so bad that if you ask me to get three things from the store I will almost always forget one.

In IQ testing I was told that if they only took my strong areas I would have scored 140 but the overall score was 89 so you can guess how bad some scores were.

Great article, thanks.

Reminds me of something I read that said something like: in some ways, at times, it can be just as difficult being a person classed as 'high functioning' as a 'lower functioning' Autistic person.

I experienced an example of this recently when I was talking to a parent of a friend ('lower functioning' than my daughter) of my daughter's.
I was asking him how they were going with the lead up to high school expecting a long, stressed out conversation about how daunting it all is, which is how I feel... "Fine," he said, "she's really looking forward to high school."

Just a whole lot less angst.
I know this is just a comparison between two people.

Does anyone else feel like being 'high functioning' just means you can put on a reasonably good show of pretending to be normal?

I know some people hate the high / low functioning categories, I can certainly understand that they are not a very reliable/ accurate way to describe differences among people on the spectrum, mainly because they're so linear.

Zel.

Oh, God, yes, the slamming of cupboards. I would hide in a corner with a book and try not to think about what I might have done wrong.

I used to be so frustrated that guys had this attitude like girls should be able to read their minds. How would I know what they wanted in life if they didn't say? Turns out a lot of girls have this ability.

Is that sort of like having
Preferences and not expectations or demands?