What makes you level 2 instead of level 1 autism?

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I have tried roughly a dozen or so different jobs and couldnt maintain employment. It would take the absolute best case scenario for me to live independently without supports, not just disability income(I live with my parents at 31 and have been on disability since 2007). I can drive and grocery shop(though unlikely reliably enough to live on my own), maintain a conversation some of the time and struggle socially at other times, I may appear to be higher functioning than I am. I was labeled level 2 after going through the most extensive autism assessment available.

I have a number of chronic illnesses which also impact my ability to function and the supports that I require. I am neither high nor low functioning.

There are levels because there is care on offer and they actually diagnose aspergers. As a kid growing up in the forestry plantations in South Africa, there was zero diagnosis and zero care options. However, the remote places look after strange people like me so i didn't need care. I just ran around being myself. The termites, antelope, meerkats, chickens, dogs, pigs etc didn't care.

I couldn't read until I was 9/10 and I had to teach myself because I couldn't quite figure it out the (alright) way I was being taught.

Love, support and acceptance have always been the most important things in my development. I have hope for your son because he has you.

These are not negatives on a forum so it's Saul Goodman

Does he love books?
Maybe you should look at EikonaBridge's ideas of teaching autistic children written English as their first language. I often disagree with him about the philosophy of science but I think he is perfectly right that if a child can't learn to speak, they still may learn other ways of communication. His own kids did.
I think the fingerpainting was a great idea, does he still do it?
Do you draw for him? He may be visual thinker, I guess it is quite common among the nonverbals.
Strapping him was clear abuse!

I'm sorry if you read superiority in my posts, I didn't mean it and don't feel it. TBH, I would be a now stuck somewhere in a mental hospital if it wasn't for some two specialists who could see more than outside symptoms. Because out of the blue I fell from level 0 (doing well without any support) into something more close to what you describe as level 2 when I hit the limits of my coping abilities – and as I had no diagnose of autism, I got the "mentally ill" label and drugs that made it worse

I'm surprised I got that. It took a while for the penny to drop

I thought about explaining it but that just ruins it , besides I'd thought you'd get it anyway

I'm level 2, completely dependent on my parents, can't have a real conversation, withdrawn and aloof for starters. I mostly communicate through AAC or texting my parents or caregiver. I will never work, I can't drive, I stim a lot, there's more but that should give you an idea.

I see you're plenty old enough to have gotten this kind of 'support' as a level 1 child. Sure sounds like my childhood. Not that I was even diagnosed with anything, AFAIK.

I would be interested in learning what level 2s think of the support they got as a child in the 60s and 70s. And were any level 1s placed in special ed with level 2s?

I consider myself level 2 (diagnosed before there were "levels"), or moderate, because there is a clear difference between me and a lot of high-functioning people. I can't drive or hold a job. I can't even initiate a conversation myself, my selective mutism kicks in until someone else talks to me, and even then speaking is often a challenge. I often partially or completely shut down when in a public place, have trouble identifying when I need to go to the bathroom until it's an emergency, and if left to my own devices, usually will not eat (though I do if food is put in front of me). I'd like to live on my own at some point, but I don't know if that's ever going to be possible.

That sounds level 2 alright.

this was me until age 21 exactly. i had to be screamed at by my parents and treated badly by them to train me to improve at initiating conversation which still i could not do beyond the parroted phrases and scenarios they trained me for.

my parents were morons to get me married but it pushed me into the 'deep end' and my brain had matured enough to where with my ex's help i was able to self-regulate these issues slightly better, and experiences andreading a lot and watching youtube videos and reading fiction
having kids also pushed it to the extreme.

even if you have these issues i think you may improve at them enough to where you can get by better every year until people are unobservant enough (because you dont seem odd to them) to think you don't have ASD.

just never let the struggles be ignored and talk about it the way you wrote them here whenever , like know,
know that u can and should ask ppl for help or explain


i did the wrong thing because i couldnt even realize how to put them in words in my own mind, or understand all the problems,i things just happened, i only saw a portion of it (until retrospectively i know)
and i didnt and couldnt ask for help for ANYTHING which i never did for anything until i was 21 .
my sister wd help me the most because she is a genius and knows what people need


then my Ex H trained me to ask him and explained and stuff. and he was really good about that he was like a built-in therapist for that. and my sister too,. thank God for that stuff he did even though he was mean too later

so don't do what i did, your problems are enough to where it is really really important to have someone helping and hopefully your brain does what mine did and gets by better. if not, still never be too ashamed or shy to ask. and pay attention to yourself check in with yourself constantly,

another thing i learned to do from my trherapist.

sorry if the above was patronizing or condescending or too imposing...or doesnt apply to you as your case is more than what i was saying...


if it applies take it as something, otherwise just ignore it as someone rambling (dont take it personally)

Uhh ... hmm ... I don't know ... maybe ... 3,000 experience points?

That's a D&D joke, in case you were wondering...

i'm glad you got that label so you could get the disability thing. im interested that u drive and shop as that means you are exposed to so much stress which comes with that.

do u have that thing where if there is an Ad or a salesperson tried to sell you something u would just buy it because they seemed to want you to or it seemed like the only thing to do with no other choice?

i feel like that is a risk when grocery shopping or any kind of shopping with autism. i am thinking if i had someone else just manage my finances and give me a select amount of money for specific things per week, i would do better with it.

my EXh did that because he saw how i am.

I too have been bad at asking for help or using what help is offered to me. I have a very strong desire to do things on my own, I tend to feel weak or lazy if I need help (I grew up being told I just wasn't trying hard enough, and that mindset became ingrained in me). Plus sometimes shyness/selective mutism gets in the way of asking for help. But I am trying to improve, because I also have a strong desire to be independent. I'm trying to learn skills that I'll need to live on my own. I'm waiting to hear back from a program where I would be living in my own apartment but would still get assistance, and if I don't hear anything by January, I'm looking at possibly just jumping into the deep end and getting an apartment myself, close to my parents so they can still help me out a bit. Otherwise it seems like I can barely even get my toes wet before someone or something pulls me back.