Im not a fan of functioning labels

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Yep....that's part of "functional language," too.

I was wondering whether it involved responding appropriately to a situation in terms of how and what you say. Your reply is fine though.

It depends. When my mutism happens I can either say nothing or be monosyllabic and appear very curt even when that's not the impression I intend to give. When I'm not mute, I'm fairly comfortable speaking in functional ways but I have never been able to express my feelings verbally (not adequately), and I do not express empathy well in person either. I will shut down and not know what to say.

That might apply to me. I have no difficulty speaking , but may not reply appropriately to a given situation .

This is going to sound daft/silly but I'll tend to say no in response to what someone has said when actually I'm agreeing with them . It's something of a reflex action .

My MIL does that , but she triples it like the dude in Vicar Of Dibley.

I think for her it's a defense mechanism because she's been shot down a lot in conversation for her views.

In the forthcoming ICD-11 diagnostic guidelines, the following phrase is consistently used...

When I looked for a definition of "functional language" in this context, I found an interesting comment in one of the science papers (link) that I found (my underlining)...

FWIW, my personal sense of it is that "functional language" excludes pragmatics - comprehension of how the connotations of language change based on social context, for example; the intent of the speaker, the composition of the audience, etc. From the perspective of DSM/ICD nice neat little diagnostic categories, this would make sense, as pragmatics presumably overlaps with "theory of mind" diagnostics, whereas other language skills don't overlap this area so much. Whether that's a useful distinction or not, I'm less sure - when I'm struggling to explain myself to a friend, the fact that I passed my English Language 'O' level is rather moot; and even more so when shut-downs rob me of the skills that I do normally have.

Impossible for someone with ASD Level 2 or Level 1 to make a successful and independent life for themselves? I beg to differ. Is it more difficult in certain ways to succeed? Oh, hell yes. Impossible? I've been gainfully employed for thirty years now and was a manager and president of a small corporation for ten of those years until.....autistic burnout happened. I switched jobs and hopefully I'll be able to work as long as I want to/need to.

Isabella touched on something in saying she didn't know she was autistic when she was working incredibly hard to achieve her goals. It was the same with me. I just internalized my issues; the reasons eluded me as to why I had a perpetual struggle more so than others at things that they didn't even give thought to (e.g. socializing, meetings, communication, multi-tasking, sounds, smells, customer service, travel). I persevered. My independence meant everything to me and was worth the oftentimes grueling cost of working to pay my bills. I have feared that children today that are diagnosed young and receive a host of "interventions" may have an ingrained mindset of limitation or defeat before they even try.

I would argue that people my age who had no idea they were autistic until they were older succeeded by being forced to adapt and survive. Even as a child I knew that life was not a game, that I was on my own to figure out my life and I had no choice but to "sink or swim". Every day from my school days onward it's been about survival for me and learning how to live. What to do and what not to do. What to say and what not to say. I took it to a degree nearly as if it was life or death. I actually consider myself to be a "survivor" of life in the same way that others consider themselves to be "survivors" after overcoming great hardship, sickness, disease, trauma, etc. I'm in this life for the long haul until the end. I consider the end of each and every day no matter what I've done that day to be an accomplishment; especially if it's a day of work, or being out doing anything from going to an appointment to grocery shopping, to taking a walk. I survived that day and I'm proud of it.

I don't recall where I saw this recently, or the exact words that the autistic person used to describe how getting on with life is for them, but it was something to the effect of: "I can do the same things you can. It's just that for me it's like I'm having to carry two heavy pails of water around all day while I do them." I agree with that completely. Being drained at the end of the day? Those pails can be heavy!

Hard? Yes. Extremely difficult and even debilitating at times? Yes. Impossible? Thankfully, not for me.

Last edited by Magna on 14 Jun 2019, 10:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hugs, Magna!

^ And to you too and to everyone else here who continues to try to walk up the hill of life carrying their heavy pails of water!

In the DSM 5 the "levels" are defined as being based solely on autistic traits (in both the social deficits and "restricted and repetitive" categories) and NOT on overall "adaptive functioning." It would make more sense to include "adaptive functioning" in how the levels are defined. I'm under the impression that this is being considered for future versions of the DSM.

I think people would assume on meeting me that I am high functioning but I have withdrawn entirely from life because I am not. I have to focus on what I can do every minute of every day to keep my mood from plummeting which leaves no room for anything beyond the moment. Of course I may have been overestimating how well my mask ever worked, this is a recent suspicion of mine. Quite likely no one ever actually thought I was normal I just was so socially inept that I couldn't read their reactions properly.

That makes sense with regards to Isabella and perhaps Magna . Both have done well despite their autistic symptoms. That would suggest their overall "adaptive functioning " is relatively good .

I don't think you are going to do well if your adaptive functioning is in the toilet , irrespective of the degree of your autistic traits .

Whenever I think something can't be done or, more likely, I've hit a snag, I think of what Denis Istomin overcame to make the men's tennis tour, and somehow, my little things don't matter so much anymore.

I totally get where you are coming from. I came from an accepting family (in hindsight, this probably saved my life), but a society that basically slapped into conformity anyone who could walk on their own. I slipped into many unhealthy coping mechanisms trying to withstand it. I buckled several times mentally, under the weight of it all.