Does anyone know anything about LFA?

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...or Low Functioning Autism? I'm just researching different forms out of curiousity and I was wondering if anyone know about it or could find any information that regarded it?

Have u watched Rain Man? There`s a good example. Great movie!

Rainman an LFA? Wasn't he more of a savant?

My brother has LFA and is nothing like Rainman. He has the mental capacity of a 4 year old and he is 28. He can only barely communicate the most basic of words like eat, no, hi, and say his name and even then you have to know him very well to understand what he is saying. At the age of 25 he finally began to use silverware instead of eating with his hands. He has very poor motor skills. He constantly rocks back and forth. More often then not he walks on toes with the ball of his foot roughly an inch from the ground and when he gets excited he'll "dance", bouncing from one foot to the other, back and forth. If he likes you he'll smell your head. Sometimes he'll start crying for no reason......well I say no reason, but for him, I'm sure there is but we'll never know the real reasons.

And I'll stop there. I could write a book about him.

Try reading some books about it. I believe that people with LFA are not 'stupid' at all, but just can't communicate with us because they are so overwhelmed by their senses. That's just my opinion by the way.

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

I think that the character in Who's Eating Gilbert Grape is supposed to be LFA. That's all that I know about it.

I found this article:

http://www.autismsupportnetwork.com/new ... sm-2328112

I think this girl shows us that what people think of LFA is wrong.

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

LFA is can seen from an IQ-based perspective. For example, many psychs classify people with HFA as someone with an IQ greater or equal to 70. Someone with an IQ of 69 and below is often classified as LFA. IQ can be difficult to measure in people with autism, and probably shouldn't be the only consideration when classifying people. Carly Fleishmann from the previous post was, I believe, diagnosed with mental retardation as well. She is considered LFA, but now that she is able to communicate, I believe she could score higher on an IQ test. I might be wrong, but she really seems quite intelligent.

LFA and HFA are also distinguished by how much capacity you have for success and toward self-help skills. It is important to remember that HFA does not mean someone is mild. My psych classified me as two things: I am HFA because of my IQ and the fact that I can go to university. But really, I have moderate classic autism. I am far from mild and depend on other people a lot (I actually see myself as either moderate-functioning, or severe high-functioning). HFA might be mild--they might be married, have children, have friends, and be highly successful in their jobs. On the other hand, a HFA person might also live in a group home, need help with cooking, cannot drive, and have no friends (yet can still feed themselves, dress themselves, etc). LFA need help with many of these skills that HFA can usually do on their own.

Edit: I forgot to mention that one of the other classifiers is a person's ability to speak. Often non-verbal are lumped in with LFA and verbal with HFA. Keep in mind again though, that being verbal certainly doesn't mean mild.

This might help
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSVRCConi0A[/youtube]

I know plenty about LFA.

LFA: A label doctors apply when you don't fit their stereotype of "high-functioning", and accompanied by the assumption that you can never have any of the skills that "high-functioning" people have, and must always have all of the traits that "low-functioning" people have. Does not actually exist in reality.