Low- or high-funtioning autism?

Post Reply New Topic

How do I know which one I am?

Can you do things typically expected from a person your age?

According the latest DSM manual:

If you act like Rain Man then you are low functioning.

If you act like either Sheldon Leonard in the Big Bang Theory, or like Spock in Star Trek, then you are either high functioning autistic, or have aspergers.

Its official!

The above is just a joke based upon the common stereotypes.

Joking aside:

First off- you need to figure out whether or not you are on the autism spectrum in the first place.

Then you figure out where ON the spectrum you are.

You need a professional diagnosis by a specialized shrink giving you the exhaustive battery of tests and interviews to get either. You cant just on your own (or reading posts by strangers on the Net) diagnose yourself that way.

Some will rush in to point out that the terms "high functioning" and "low functioning" are not official medical terms. But recently they HAVE officially split autistics up into three tiers: levels one, two, and three. Three needing the most "support", and one needing the least. So nowadays the medical profession has in effect officially split autistics up into what amounts to "low" "middle" and "high" functioning categories. But those categories are a bit subjective. As many on this site can attest.

I hear it's rather subjective. Perhaps severity and frequency relative to circumstances. What other axes?