The "Spectrum"

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Can someone explain the Autism Spectrum to me, please?

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I have Autism but people usually just don't notice, so my slight Autism is here to SHINE!
Some will, some won't, so what, whatever!
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This is quite a good explanation.
http://graphicexplanations.info/2013/09/13/understanding-the-spectrum-in-autistic-spectrum/

And there is also this, which is a bit different but still is good. I copied it from tumblr, I would post the link but I'm not sure how from my iPad.

[Images shows the emission spectra of different elements, which manifest as bright lines on a dull rainbow background from violet all the way to red. The bright emission lines for each element is unique like a bar code. Some elements have one or two emission lines, others have several.]

I FIGURED OUT HOW TO EXPLAIN THE AUTISM SPECTRUM! Listen up and make sure you reblog this!

Each chemical element, when heated so that it gives off light, yields a different series of lines in a spectrum. The position of the lines and the patterns they form in the spectrum of a particular substance can yield many kinds of information about the substance. (X)

It’s been widely known autism is called a spectrum, yet people constantly misunderstand it to mean people are in one place or another on that spectrum depending on how they’re affected by it and/or their ability to “pass” as neurotypical or allistic.

THE TRUTH IS AUTISTIC PEOPLE ARE ALL ON THE SAME PLACE ON THE SPECTRUM! The only difference is the patterns of our spectral lines. Autistic people are an infinite Periodic Table of possibilities.

Like the article that Tetris posted said, the Autism Spectrum is just that. It's a spectrum of people who are Autistic. I think that is the most important concept. It infuriates me when people say everyone is a little Autistic. That is a very unfair statement. Either you are Autistic or you are not.

Now the confusing part comes because the symptoms and traits of Autism are not exclusive to Autism. So everyone has experiences with some of the traits and symptoms that we suffer from every now and then. It's like diabetics. Everyone will experiences rises and crashes in blood sugar levels. That is normal. Every single person has experienced this at some time in his or her life. But that does not make one diabetic. There are clear lines that must be crossed for one to have a diagnosis of diabetes. Now within the subgroup of people who are diabetic, some have insulin they must take, others do not. Some are very severe, others are mild, some have had limbs amputated some have not. So you can say that in the subgroup of diabetics, there is a spectrum effect which ranges from mild to severe.

So it's like that with Autism. Within the subgroup of people who are Autistic, some have very severe symptoms while others have less severe symptoms. Some may suffer from one trait or symptom very intensely while someone else might not have that trait or symptom at all. Like with diabetes, there are certain key traits and symptoms that every Autistic person much have to be diagnosed Autistic but not every single person has every single symptom that is associated with Autism.

But because everyone's Autistic symptoms may be manifested in different degrees and in different ways, we never present exactly alike. It's like the jellybean picture. They are all different but they all have one very important thing in common. They are all jellybeans. No other candy is a jellybean. The jellybean spectrum is the spectrum that encompasses the range and intensities of the different jellybeans. A snickers bar cannot claim to be on the Jellybean spectrum. Now there are candies that have little trace bits of jellybean in them but they are not called Jellybeans because they are not jellybeans. So just like that there are people who might have a trait of Autism or maybe two or have a couple at nonclinical levels. They might fall under what we call the Broad Autistic Phenotype but they are not considered Autistic because the presence of their symptoms are not strong enough for them to be diagnosed Autistic. Like hypoglycemia could make you prediabetic but you won't be diagnosed diabetic with that.

So the Autism Spectrum is used to differentiate levels of severity of people who are Autistic.

Tetris, I love that explanation! Now I just need to find a concise way to inform people about the spectral signatures of elements. That sort of thing isn't common knowledge, as it turns out, and therefore makes for an inefficient analogy.

i use a ruler to explain it.

a ruler is 1 thru 12... 1 being complete ASD and 12 being complete NT (neurotypical, NOT ASD)... and for the majority of the time, I feel like I'm a 9-10... sometimes I slip down to a 6-7...and rarely, I can slip down to a 4-5.

The Spectrum is like a bumper car ride for the visually impaired. The worse your vision the tougher it gets.