High/Low Functioning Designation Offensive?

Post Reply New Topic

My younger brother, who is very autistic (daily meltdowns, totally dependent on my parents at 21, likely won't ever hold a job, etc.), came to spend the night at my apartment last night so my parents could have a date. My live-in-boyfriend's friends from next door came to try to get us to go to a dance club (needless to say, they really don't understand me). He told them no, because my brother was over, and then explained that because of his autism, a club would be the opposite of fun for him. Then, as always, some jerk wanted to impress me and asked the dreaded question "so, is he pretty high functioning?" I started explaining, but then realized no one was listening, and that it was probably one of those questions like "how are you?" that people just ask for no reason.

Anyhow, since then my mind has been tossing on the phrase, and besides being an annoying question, I think it's a fundamentally insulting concept to base a person's "functionality" on how well they socialize with other people. The term high-functioning basically says to me that no matter how "highly" we function, my brother and I will never be functional people. Isaac Newton discovered gravity, the foundation of classical mechanics, and calculus, and invented the cat door, but because he was asocial, he wasn't functional by these people's definition. Yeah, I have trouble with answering the phone, with dealing with crowds and noise, with basic conversation skills, but that doesn't mean, I'm not functional, or that I can't achieve as much or more than any of my neurotypical peers. I have a job, go to school, and have the lead in a play, and people whose whole life consists of drugs, drinking, and partying have the gall to say I'm not a functional human. I can't express how much this bothers me.

Am I the only one who is really bothered by this term?

It was the context in which it was used that really pushed it into being offensive. I would've gotten angry at that person for saying it; but then that's the kind of situation which stresses me and messes up my self control.

This is a complicated question, as ( my humble opinion here) it depends on the attitude, knowledge, ethics and manners of the person using the word.

It depends on how the designation is used for me. Most of the time I am offended, because whenever the term "low functioning" comes up when I'm describing how my autistic friend Travis thinks, they automatically assume he's ret*d. I know for a FACT that he isn't stupid, not even close. Sure, he's nonverbal. Maybe they should learn sign language or write more, because that's how he communicates.

If it comes to describing the severity of a diagnosis on an informative level, I'm okay with it.

I think its like many terms and words, and is entirely in context. I think that particular instance is quite ill-delivered but you seem to understand that he didn't mean to be cruel. I think it's a designation that must exist, but perhaps the language could change. You could replace it in your mind with, 1st 2nd and 3rd degree autism and have the same problems but certainly, "low functioning" or even, "high functioning" are innately a bit offensive. I sort of like the degrees but then you'll still have people who mumble them under their breath and offend.

Yeah, I usually say "higher up or lower down the spectrum" with my friends who are autistic/AS or are in an autistic family, which is sort of like the degree idea. I think it's ultimately just about misinformation, which is why I try to educate people. I just wish people would listen...

Seems like they were being the fake courteous neurotypites are raised to project.

The high/low functioning classification from what I can tell is simply a general reference of ability to integrate into NT society to a greater or lesser degree. Greater integration=higher function, however this implies that lower integration equals dysfunction when that is simply not the case. So by definition, low function is a misnomer, but a vague generalization by which NT's can quantify the social propensity of a spectrumite to relay in an easily interpreted manner. They communicate "better", if not smarter ...if that makes any sense.

I just refer to myself as an aspie as I don't like saying I have a syndrome and I could easily see how low-functioning would be an unwelcome label.

i consider functioning as the ability to concentrate. i say i am low-functioning couse i have a hazy mind all the time and am never fully aware of what is going on.

I am not *really* bothered by it, but I feel it was not well chosen, at a time when they didn't fully understand what they were diagnosing with the term...and still may not fully grasp the concept of what goes on in our heads.
I think "attention deficit" is another one of those diagnostic terms that doesn't always fit the problem they stick the label on, because a lot of times the problem isn't a deficit of attention at all.
But I also wonder sometimes if this is just me being too literal minded and the rest of the world never notices this stuff?

I don't think I'll ever forget the moment I handed a PA (who had never met me off high-dose meds) 2 pages to argue a point I couldn't argue verbally and as he read he got this really shocked look on his face and said "OMG, what's wrong with your speech and what can we do about it? I had no idea..." He had assumed I thought as brokenly as I was speaking at that point, and it had never occurred to me to explain this was a communication disorder and not a thinking disorder.
That is, unfortunately, not obvious in the label.

Last year I did some looking at the term "dereism" which is a term that has been used in the past to describe the "lost in thinking/fantastical thinking" aspect of autism.
Of course if you use a term like that everybody says "What's that?" then you have to explain (sigh), but if you say "High Functioning" then they get it. Personally, I like less explaining.

Ah, but I'm sooo bothered by inexactness! Dereism doesn't seem exactly right either after looking it up; it seems to suggest that the thoughts we're lost in are frivolous or pointless. I will just have to keep explaining to anyone who cares I guess.

People I've encountered seem to think that if you can tell someone has aspergers (ie they behave oddly or speak in a monotonous voice), then they must have "severe" or "low functioning" autism. I don't think many people see someone who is actually what would be classed as "low functioning" and even associate autism with them. People also assume that those who are non verbal are automatically low functioning, when in fact the majority of the children I work with who are non verbal are incredibly intelligent. It's important to point out "higher functioning" just means "nearer to typical" rather than any grading of intelligence or ability.

I find the terms a bit problematic. Occasionally I'll use them at work, for instance if a new member of staff has been assigned a group of kids, it's helpful (along with all the other details about them, not just this fact alone) to say "They're a group of higher functioning children." It gives them an idea of what to expect, although of course not everything they need to know. One "high" functioning child will be totally different to another. Same with low functioning.

Your boyfriend definitely needs to understand why this bothers you. This so-called "friend" of his asks the question, about something important to your own life and even more so to the life of your brother, and then he isn't interested in the answer! Where are these much-vaulted NT social skills?!

My guess is that most likely this guy is just immature. Your boyfriend could say something to him like, 'You asked _______ a question important to the life of her brother and then you weren't interested in the answer.' But it really needs to be your boyfriend's call of whether or not there's enough potential upside to bring up the topic and if so, how.

As far as politically, and where the public understanding of autism is right now, I think the following slogan would be very helpful:

'We are all middle-functioning!'

=================

What help does the person then need? Well, why don't we communicate with the person and find out. And of course, the person probably also has things to teach us.

Last edited by AardvarkGoodSwimmer on 09 Sep 2012, 4:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yeah. I can totally see why that bothers you and your brother. It bothers me, too. It's like, if you're high-functioning, you aren't allowed to need help; and if you're low-functioning, you aren't allowed to have talents. It squeezes you into a box that's too small for any human being.

But your friend probably has no idea of any of this. Don't take offense; just explain why you don't like the term.

I don't find the question itself offensive, but the context can change that. Also, the vagueness of the term bothers me.

Not knowing where the line for high functioning vs. low functioning is bothers me. And I know, everyone is different and no single line would work, but some sort of guideline would be helpful. For example, I was watching Rain Man was kind of surprised when a doctor described the autistic character as very high functioning. If he's high functioning, then I've never met a low functioning person.

So where do you put the line then? If a person is able to feed and clothe themselves, they're high functioning? Or is that bar too low? I don't know.

Edit: Callista, I may have to steal your sig. Swap out pantheist for Christian, and you've got me.

They say NT's have social skills, but they never say anything about kindness. Yeah, it's a pretty immature group of people, and a mean one. Last night, they spent the whole night joking about beating up and urinating on homeless people (WTF?). Anyway, last night was a sort of going away party since they are all moving uptown, so hopefully I won't have to deal with them as much. I just feel bad for my boyfriend, because I know he knows our neighbors are far from ideal friends, but he is so non-autistic: he gets extremely depressed when he doesn't have anyone to socialize with, but he doesn't have any activities to meet friends. That's another topic, though.

What exactly are the functions that count towards "high" or "low" functioning? Is there a standard in medicine?