Im not a fan of functioning labels

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I don't think he's being mean as much as he sees Isabella's history as being very left field compared to the vast majority who are level 2 .

It certainly raises questions as to how levels should be assigned,how functioning should be evaluated.

Isabella,

I also was primarily academic, not social, and suffered some health difficulties and anxiety during my university career, but nowhere near as serious as what you experienced. You are an interesting person and, like me, a reader and a cat lover. Your posts on the topic of "autistic burnout" are very informative.

The more I read about levels the more, at levels 1 and 2 , it comes across as based on severity of ASD symptoms rather than how well a person functions .

For example as someone with Asperger's I'd fit into level 1 , but added to that is schizophrenia,probable dyspraxia and probable learning difficulty. All of those three having a negative impact on functioning.

I'd argue that if categorising based on functioning co-morbids should be factored in to give a more realistic assessment
of how well a person functions .

It suggests to me there should be separate levels for severity of ASD and for how well a person functions .

If the DSM 5 is followed severity is based on needed levels of support. That by definition is based on literal ability to function is society. IQ and severity of traits effect ability to function in society but it is an indirect relationship, it is not the same thing.

The problem began with functioning levels being defined by IQ and people using the terms “high functioning” and “low functioning” despite those terms having never been in any diagnostic manual. This is still a problem today as since Aspergers was eliminated diagnosis of “high functioning autism” instead of Aspergers is often being given out. For the life of me I can not understand why eliminate Aspergers because it is not in the current manual only to replace it with a diagnosis that has never been in any manual.

Functioning levels being defined by IQ is a poor way of doing things IMO . It's possible to be very intelligent in some ways and yet struggle intelligence wise in other ways(learning difficulty) .

I can come across as very intelligent when it comes to talking with people . However when it comes to dealing with something practical I don't do well . As one of my granddaughters said about me- I have no common sense.

Isabella,

I was in a similar situation, although not as serious as what you describe. Still, I can relate to a lot of what you say.

Functioning labels were added as a half-hearted way to introduce the spectrum concept to the DSM. The ICD clearly thinks that functioning labels aren't sensible, here's what they have:

6A02.0 Autism spectrum disorder without disorder of intellectual development and with mild or no impairment of functional language
6A02.1 Autism spectrum disorder with disorder of intellectual development and with mild or no impairment of functional language
6A02.2 Autism spectrum disorder without disorder of intellectual development and with impaired functional language
6A02.3 Autism spectrum disorder with disorder of intellectual development and with impaired functional language
6A02.4 Autism spectrum disorder without disorder of intellectual development and with absence of functional language
6A02.5 Autism spectrum disorder with disorder of intellectual development and with absence of functional language

This isn't perfect though, as whether you consider someone "severe" or "mild" could easily depend on the day that the diagnosis was done, and on what specific skills were measured. To really help someone on the spectrum properly would require a full psycho educational assessment

^ Can you have good verbal intelligence and yet have an impairment of functional language?

Of course you can.

Ezra is a prime example. He has a good command of the English language----but he experiences great difficulty talking. Talking is "functional language."

^ Is it also about responding in a verbally appropriate way ?