Moderate intellectually disability and mild autism?

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I apologize if I accidentally offend anyone with my post. I'm new here and not very knowledgeable of autism as a whole.

Having autism and comorbid mental retardation seems to mostly result in the non-verbal and self-harming kind of behavior.

But then I stumbled upon this video

(I'm new here so I'm not allowed to post videos, but it's called "friend with autism", you can look it up on youtube)

He's probably at least moderately intellectually disabled (His mother stated on Facebook that he is unable to read and write, and he has the disposition of a child) but he's surprisingly sociable for someone that has low functioning autism by definition(IQ >70.)

He mostly looks people in the eyes when he's talking to them, and he's capable of carrying a conversation to an extent.

TLDR: Is it possible for an intellectual disabled person to only exhibit mild symptoms of autism?

I think it's possible, as autism is on a wide spectrum. I know a young man at my church who has the mind of a child but, as far as I know, he isn't autistic and is very sociable.

Yep. Definitely.

Many intellectually-disabled people don't exhibit any signs of autism at all.

I've heard it said that people with Down Syndrome, in a sense, are the "opposite" of people with autism. Their social skills, at times, are off the charts compared with other aspects of their overall abilities.

I meant it more like if it's possible for a mentally disabled person who is undeniably autistic to have better social skills than a supposed "high-functioning" person with normal intelligence?

Yep. That’s possible.

Which is why I think it's stupid to base someone's autism of their IQ. Sure, being mentally disabled creates problems of its own, but it really doesn't take the individuals autistic traits into account. A person with an IQ of 65 cannot be high functioning by definition, but they might be less affected by their autism than a person with an IQ of 120.

That definitely can happen.

Yes. In fact I think all intellectual and emotional disorders/disabilities share some traits of autism but not actually be autistic, just like Aspies and autistics can share traits of other disorders/disabilities but not have them as co-morbids. This is why I don't view all non-autistics as neurotypicals like some ASD people do here.

I have a neighbour who does not have autism but is severely mentally ret*d. He loves people, but is less socially-skilled than me. He'd go up to random people and start monologing about random stuff, and doesn't seem to understand if they are interested or laughing at him or whatever. One time he even tried to hug a stranger, because he thought it was a kind thing to do, but he didn't realise that it could creep them out, which it did. His caregiver had to explain to them that he has a disability, and they kind of understood. He cannot read or write and he needs help bathing and other stuff like that, even though physically he is capable but mentally he cannot accomplish simple everyday tasks. He wrings his hands a lot when walking but he is not anxious or nervous, although he looks that way to others. He is a lovely fella but he is definitely not neurotypical. He went to a special school all through his childhood and he's been bullied by people in the neighbourhood before. His parents are trying to see if they could get him a part-time job, but his mental disability means his skills are very limited so he will probably have an even harder time getting hired than I did.

Also I have a friend with Fragile-X but not autism, but she basically only has me as a friend because she finds making friends hard, she got bullied a lot at school, and she's 27 but still has never had a job even though she's been trying hard all these years. Her intelligence is about average or just below, and she looks and acts normal and can do things for herself, but she still struggles with making friends and finding jobs.

I was formally diagnosed with Autism and ADHD and an intellectual disability FSIQ score of 69 on the 17th of last month. I think the reason why I received the intellectual disability diagnosis is because i process thing a lot slower than other people. And on the IQ test that brought the scores down a lot.

If you got in the Marines, it's very likely you're not intellectually disabled.

I did get in but it took 8 tries for me to pass the ASVABS test and i was discharged from the Marines while in boot camp for medical reasons.

I think it's very possible.

That is absolutely possible. Intellectual disability, what was clinically known as mental retardation and Autism are two completely different conditions. They can exist together but one is not because of the other. So they can be each be present in separate degrees in the same person. They are just existing together. Same with Down's Syndrome. Not all people with Down's Syndrome also have the intellectual disability. They are separate issues that are often present in the same person but they don't have to be. So the level of Autistic symptoms and traits can be mild even if the person has a lower IQ or the Autistic symptoms can be stronger. It just depends on how each thing worked out in the individual.

You are right about that Joe. Nt does not mean everyone who is not Autistic. It originally meant not Autistic that but now that definition has been replaced by many with the word allistic. Now Nt means people with a typical neurology. So now anyone who has a neurodiverse condition is not considered nt even if that person is not Autistic. But lots of people still just use it to only differentiate Autistics from everyone else even though that is no longer actually correct.

Yes. That's why I don't like functioning labels - they don't account for the diversity of the spectrum.

I DETEST functioning labels. I am constantly fighting for people to understand that many of their expectations of me are just too high. But no one wants to believe me. And then when I need to use my high functioning abilities people fight me about that too because they want me to stay in the position they put me in so that they don't feel threatened. But no one wants to accept the low functioning parts of me. I have no way to fit in society at all no matter what angle you look at me. There is no social box that I can fit into at all. It doesn't exist and because I don't fit in a social box, I am rejected and bullied for that. It's a tough situation to be in.