What do you think of functioning labels?

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I don't think they are legitimate because I am Moderately Autistic and I have a high probability of living Independently.

Sometimes, they can be useful.

Other times, they don’t mean that much.

I’m glad you have a high probability of living independently.

Labels are a convenience for communication, but they are also a big problem. When people see things sorted into one set of boxes, they seldom realize that all the same things could fit into a completely different set by number and labels. Nor do they see that with people, it is rare to have more than 50% of one person belonging in one box. There's always some bits in a dozen other places, and often enough, the primary division should go two to four ways.

There is an Autistic man who has a Youtube channel. I love his videos. He is called Wolf. One of the things he said about functioning labels, I thought was actually quite brilliant. He said that functioning levels are given to us by nts not to describe how well we can actually function but how annoying we are to them. The more effort it takes to help someone with care, the more low the functioning level given to that person will be. He also said something else that I loved. He said that the high functioning label also has nothing to do with how well you function on a day to day basis. What is really is is how well you can conceal or hide your struggles as opposed to someone who cannot hide his struggles as easily. We did not give these labels to each other, they were given to us by people who do not have our condition. Go figure.

^^ Nailed it!