why do some people consider low functioning inferior ?

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okay I know this post might annoy or anger some people. Im not accusing anyone here of being ableist or biased. However I need to ask why do some aspies and even high functioning autistics seem to distance themselves from others who are low or mid functioning or sometimes even the word autism in general. and yes I know now that KOZ is a troll but their are some aspies/autistics ( and of course nt parents and other nts) who act like this .


also I know is is unrelated but why isn't there an autism diagnoses option while creating an account?

"Inferior" in what sense?

Functionally inferior is part of the definition - that's what "Low Functioning" means.

Socially inferior? That I don't understand; they're people, after all, and with the same rights as any other person. In a true egalitarian society, no one is socially inferior (or superior) to anyone else.

...

Yes, you can edit your profile to show one of about a half-dozen diagnosis states.

Because low functioning is inferior. They simply function in an inferior way; that's why it's called low functioning. You can go ahead and say that saying this is ableist or cruel or just plain mean. But let's be real, if you had to choose between being a high functioning aspie or a low functioning autistic, which would you pick? No lying now.

Apologies, I am a trained monkey that was tortured, brain-washed, and socially-conditioned into believing ....

ASD=bad, acting like others = good
stimming = bad and humiliating, not stimming = good
different = bad , fitting in = good
people with disabilities = are weird and fun to laugh at , normal people = good
being myself = bad , being what they want me to be = good
etc ....

Monkey learned these lessons over many years and performs shows everyday.

Want to see Monkey perform ?

Watch monkey not talk about autism , watch monkey act normal ... ahhhh such a good monkey.

Because "low functioning" and even the word "autism" are

1)associated with symptoms that are considered negative, and/or
2)associated with symptoms that do not apply to "high functioning"/Asperger's Syndrome



I was under the impression that this site was primarily intended for people with the condition-formerly-known-as Asperger's Syndrome. So the other ASDs just got lumped together.

My son is medium functioning, and despite his problems is actually very intelligent. Some people would say that because he has a mental age of 4 at the physical age of 7 that he is somehow less intelligent. This is a mistaken point of view, because although he has the mind of a four year old, it is the mind of a highly intelligent four year old!

He has difficulty functioning in the classroom, yet on several occasions he has already finished his homework before the teacher has finished telling the class how to do it!

He functions on the psychological level of a toddler, but has a reading age of a ten year old and is way better at maths than his classmates.

I have every confidence that with all the help he is receiving he will become a valuable member of society. He is most definitely not inferior to anyone else for sure!

Also, some apparently 'low functioning' people who are incapable of holding a meaningful conversation in the real world, are incredibly articulate when allowed to communicate online!

Kingdom of rats for example would put a lot of 'NT's' to shame for her ability to communicate intelligently and effectively online! yet she has severe difficulties in her every day life.

You might want to look up Carly Fleishman too, for years everyone thought she was so low functioning as to be practically a vegetable - till she started to type on a computer and everyone realised that she was in fact incredibly articulate and is now advocating for low functioning autistics

Being low functioning does not mean being inferior, it means having practical difficulties in the real world. It is in fact simply a measure of your practical everyday functionality, the more you struggle to be functional, the lower functioning you are assumed to be.

If we are going to start talking about low functioning as being synonymous with being inferior, then are we going to start telling people in wheelchairs that they are inferior too? After all they are severely disabled and have difficulty functioning in an able world too!

I can't help thinking of the guy who played Superman, he was paralysed from the neck down due to an injury. Is he any less dysfunctional than someone who is physically disabled by low functioning autism? Is he any more or less intelligent than someone with low functioning autism? Would you tell him to his face that he is inferior to an able bodied person because he requires round the clock care with everyday life?

Actually the symptoms of autism are no different to the symptoms of Aspergers - they just differ in severity (and even then not always) so the 'do not apply' argument is invalid here.

Also, as far as I am aware this forum was always about autism in general, not just about Aspergers syndrome!

Edit: just to clarify here, I have aspergers, my son has autism - there are few differences between us apart from his mental age being lower than his peers, and some of his behaviours being a bit more challenging. His symptoms however are pretty much the same as mine !

I think I knew who KOZ was. She had two low functioning autistic brothers and an aspie sister and she herself had SPD and her father committed suicide if I remember correctly. Was her account nuked because I did a search on her name and found nothing. If she was a troll, was all that made up too what she wrote?

im not talking about functioning levels Im talking about socially like the class system in a sense.

honesty im not intiry sure - I have both low and high functioning / good and bad traits I cant cook, wash or brush my hair, take my own medication pick out my own clothing ( I didn't dress myself until I was 10 or 11 ) do my homework alone, I often times have severe sensory overload, most days im either tired over stimulated or completely lost In my thoughts, a lot of physical challenges which im not sure if its related to autism or not, speech issues ect but I am also smart, good at writing (not handwriting though) ,when I can actually get my speech issues under control I can be pretty articulate, when my memory decides to work properly I can remember scripts, song lyrics, definitions, answers commercials, I could competey zoned in to reading, watching tv, writing, rehursing that nothing can distract me, when I get interested in something I will do it no matter what anyone else thinks, I am not judgmental, I am unique, I have a different view of the world.

If I was a high functioning aspie I wouldn't have as many development problems and I might be able to pass of as normal .

if I was severely autistic I might not have as much social problems / people would be able to deal with my needs properly also if I was non verbal using a communication device would help me with sounding articulant

if I was a high functioning aspie I would be more aware of the problems in this world (and my problems in general) and what people really think of me causing me to be depressed or suicidal wondering why cant I fit in when I seem so normal to the nt world or try to change your self which Is counter productive.

if I was severely autistic people might act overly sappy and sympathetic to me and try to cure me or ill be so self ingrous i do severe damage with out realizing it/ wonder off and get hit by a car or kidnaped

Last edited by jenisautistic on 06 Dec 2013, 7:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[quote="League_Girl"]I think I knew who KOZ was. She had two low functioning autistic brothers and an aspie sister and she herself had SPD and her father committed suicide if I remember correctly. Was her account nuked because I did a search on her name and found nothing. If she was a troll, was all that made up too what she wrote?[/quote ]I don't know.

Well, there is the IQ requirement. But I meant symptoms that are thought to be mainly associated with low-functioning autism and are often well-managed or totally absent from people with Asperger's syndrome. So that people with asperger's syndrome wouldn't want their personal image tarnished, or false assumptions made about their functioning level, by being associated with the screaming, self-injuring mental ret*d image that people have of autism – even if those symptoms also apply to people with asperger's syndrome to some extent.

Honestly, I can see at least one serious advantage to being low functioning. If your disability is obvious, neurotypicals treat you with a lot more tolerance than they do if they can convince themselves you're just a pain in the ass because you're a schmuck.

I get what you are saying, I don't think it is right, but I know what you mean about people not wanting to be embarrassed by association.

TBH I think the IQ thing is actually a very poor measure of functionality in autism (for the reasons I've argued above) which I believe was some of the reasoning behind the new DSM - to filter by practical functionality not by IQ.

um Isnt thinking like that hypocritical. Your implying that what orginizations like autism speaks are not only correct but encouraging them by saying oh we don't want associated with those retaded kids who who have no thought in their brain no feelings, and don't have anything more functional to do then flap their hands spin around and bang their head against the wall. which isn't even accurate in the first place.

Its good to know where I and the other kids in my program stand around here where's the autism speaks doesn't speak for autistics now?

yes socially and in society.

I'll definitely admit that you have a very good point. It might certainly be worth being lower functioning if it means that people feel pity towards your strangeness, rather than contempt.

I suppose a better question would be as such: If you were presented with 2 buttons, where pushing one would make you low functioning enough to be blissfully unaware, and pushing the other would make you a borderline AS/NT, which would you press? Assuming you are willing to press either one, of course.