Level zero- a question

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Have you ever come across a person saying they're on the spectrum(dxed as such) but are level 0, and see themself as requiring very little support?

No.

Another question . When does an impairment( required for dx) become or not become a disability?

I think level 0 might mean PDD-NOS, which a few people in my family seem to have. They don't seem impaired by any of their symptoms but they still have the traits.

The one person I have met with PDD-NOS (a guy at a autism support group with his NT mom) was obviously seriously impaired.

If you're impaired then you're impaired. Its a disability!

But ...let's play with idea for a moment.

An autism spectrum person, who had a savant skill that was highly marketable could theoretically earn so many stacks of green that they would be able to pay the rent etc, and not need any support. Even though they might might judged as being level 1, or level 2, if they only had a normal average NT aptitude for that thing that they happened to have a savant skill in.

Am thinking of two people, one fictional, and one real. The fictional person is Sheldon Leonard. And the real person is a young lady I used to know who was a mental patient, and who had many aspie traits (though never diagnosed with aspergers), who happened to be a wiz at computer programming. And now has a great job as a systems analyst , and earns stacks of green.

So this young lady, and Sheldon, maybe might be classified as "level zero".

Then why was he diagnosed with PDD-NOS? Shouldn't he have been diagnosed with level 1 or 2?

There is no official “Level Zero.”

I am “impaired” in many ways—yet I’ve managed to have a job, get married, and (at age 51) own a car.

I’m not “disabled” officially—but it is obvious to some people who know me that there is “seriously a screw loose somewhere.”

My wife cannot believe that I cannot put together something that most 7-year-olds could put together.

Other people cannot understand why I don’t have an elementary knowledge of certain things.

PDD..that part means that you have "a pervasive developmental disorder". you're impaired in your development. So that means that you're...friggin impaired! Rather pervasively.

The NOS part means "not otherwise specified". As the guy's mom explained it "it means we don't know what you have because it doesn't fit into any box, but you got something, and its debilitating".

So that guy didn't present symptoms that werent exactly aspie or autistic. So they didn't have a box for him. So they put him into the PDD box.

Also this was some years ago. Before they had the level 1,2, and 3, grade for autism.

People with PDD-NOS run the gamut as far as presentation is concerned.

It can be quite minor—or it could be quite major.

I don't have an official diagnosis but I can offer useful insights that help diagnosed people with autism based on personal experience. I doubt I'd ever get any benefits from a diagnosis. If I thought I'd need help from my co-workers I'd just ask. They have been most helpful driving me to doctor's appointments.

I always thought PDD-NOS meant people who are on the borderline of ASD but don't fit enough to be diagnosed with an ASD.
But it's OK, I was wrong. Thank you for educating me.

But most other neurological conditions share a few traits with autism anyway.

PDD-NOS: you have autistic traits, but don’t fit all the diagnostic criteria for autism.

You can be very mildly affected, and “not quite” have autism—or you could be very seriously disabled, yet not have “enough” autistic traits.

And many times in the middle of these things.

Last edited by kraftiekortie on 23 May 2020, 4:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I was “fully” autistic because I had all the symptoms. It was a “no-doubter” with me.

I believe my father is a level zero, at least in the environment he created for himself. He don't really need to do anything but stay at home and search the internet. No need to have visitors. Not a lot of things going on in the village we live in. 3000 inhabitants. He only needed to bike between his job and home. His job meant he could be for himself for 95% of the time, and the people he did have to deal with were truck drivers - and truck drivers have a special place on the autism spectrum of their own

So under those conditions he could function perfectly fine. Just couldn't handle the social part. Never managed to show up for graduation or other stuff that ordinary parents do. That's fine with me, I'm not one to cry over that sort of things.

One thing that always seemed very different with him compared to other parents was the way he presented in public the very few times he would need to go buy something. He'd just cut straight to the point without saying anything more. Like: -Battery, for a Volvo.
And with a really short and distinct tone. Awfully hard to say goodbye to people. Very narrow minded. If he had made up his mind, then there was really hard making him change his point of view.
Typical example:
Me: -Dad, can you pick me up when I arrive with the train tomorrow.
Dad: -There are no train on saturdays, so I won't come.
Then there is a long battle with him trying to make him understand the trains have a different time table today compared to 15 years ago.