to not understand MNers against neurodiversity

You can’t categorise autism so it was ridiculous post.

@adulthoodisajoke

"youre self aware and im sure you apologise when youre late and now you know about time blindness are able to put measures in place to help yourself?
and harmony in relationships is great"

See this shit pisses me off. You do know that ADHD can't just be cured with a few strategies or timers? I know I am time blind, I put in place loads of strategies. Yet I'm still late. Being on time for something is not just a case of setting a few timers. There's a complex web of executive functions going on to enable someone to get ready, have everything they need, get out of the house and reach their destination on time. And it all starts days or weeks ahead, and most people are constantly juggling all the things they need to be on time for. Yet most people don't notice half (if any) of the things their brain is doing to allow them to be punctual. It's only when your brain can't do these things, that you can see it. It's like driving a car for most people. Once you learn it, you aren't thinking about all the multiple and different things your brain is doing to allow you to drive, it just does it. If you started struggling with one or more aspects, that's when you'd notice where your brain is failing you.

That's very kind of you to say
I have a group of friends we all have children with a diagnosis of autism the children/ young adults are all very different but all have complex needs
I hope life gets a bit easier it can't be easy with no respite, I'm lucky in that respect it's taken years but I have decent package of respite including 2 over nights a month which are a God send 💐 land🍷 you for

While I do agree it is helpful to differentiate levels and care needs in autism, I would like to make the point that autism is more than just anxiety, even in its mildest form. There are real impairments in sensory and social cognition in even the old Asperger’s kind of autism. To try and portray it as anxiety is to misunderstand the nature of the disability and the support needs that are required. At the end of the day it is hard on autistic people and their carers if they don’t get whatever kind of support they need. It’s wrong all kinds of autism services have been targets for cuts.

@x2boys l know you from the SEN boards long ago. I know how hard things are for you. I will always be grateful for the help and advice you gave. I'm glad you are still around and identifiable so I can thank you.

It all went to shit and I have no support so things are different now with adult SN with different needs.

But I still regard you as one of the people there when I most needed support.

It was an example of a way things could be divided into types which had no emotional baggage of severity or dismissing of needs.

The examples were clearly labelled as rough and not a suggestion of actual categories that woukd or should be used.

Yep I completely understand this and all power to them! I have a soft spot for (older) kids I've worked with who just say whatever comes into their heads or feel the need to be very precisely honest. But I agree, it does a disservice essentially erasing how it presents elsewhere on the spectrum and the real issues a lot of people face as a result.

@PocketSand
Yes my child has an ehcp and attends a special school. He attempted suicide at his special school.

But my point wasn't about one very specific example. I wasn't suggesting you personally rang your GP. It was an example of how knowing how autism presents could help access the right type of education or healthcare more easily.

You said you felt people weren't seeing your chikds struggles as legitimate or valid. I was simply the suggesting that more refined diagnosis woukd actually make people see them more legitimate and valid by being more useful. Instead of being dismissed as a mild apple being, being an orange and all that entails.

@ridl14

Agree it's not a superpower! But I think people say that as a way to feel better about the disability. Some people are incredibly knowledgeable on certain subjects or savant level intelligent at maths or science so there is an argument it's a super power from that. But saying so ignores all the struggles and challenges that come along with it

I see verbal people with autism dismissed as mild and not worthy of a diagnosis far far more. It’s frankly appalling.

I do not agree with that particular rating system. But I see time and time again children and adults with very profound autism dismissed by the public saying it is really learning difficulties.
Sometimes it is. But we also know from autistic people who were non verbal and at some later point start communicating, that you can have profound non verbal autism and no learning disability. Sometimes it is simply autism and that is what it looks like.
I see profound autism questioned and doubted more than any other form of autism.

Some maybe able, to my son however is unable to speak at all has very limited understanding of the world around him, he can just about trace some of the letters in his name and recognise a few numbers, he certainly can't type.

That’s ridiculous and not done for a very good reason. Many can be all 3 or 2, some of those in 1 will be in that category due to learning difficulties. My dc are in both 2and 3 but neither of those things are what causes the huge struggles and need for services.

@Frowningprovidence maybe the school were not providing adequate support - DD if you contact SENCO before GP? Did your child have EHCP?

I have noticed many people use the term “nonverbal” to describe people who have severe global communication difficulties to the point they wouldn’t even know how to switch an electronic device on, let alone type on it and communicate.

Some 'nonverbal' people can type - they're non-speaking (mute) not actually non-verbal (without words). People with global delay, other severe intellectual impairment or some kinds of brain damage may have extremely limited ability to use words in any medium.

Absolutely! Also annoys me to see autism described as a 'superpower' when I think it can a real struggle for many people, even those that are more capable of living independently.

Sorry, maybe thst wasn't clear.

I have had to ring the gp when my son was struggling mentally. Luckily for me, the gp was aware of the link between suicide and Autism and escalated it very quickly and the crisis team rang and meds were given.

It's just an example how having more refined diagnosis could help support be quicker, more relevant or whatever.

@TheyDidntBurnWitchesTheyBurntWomen you do realise that nonverbal people can type don't you?

@Frowningprovidence rang the GP? Why? What would they do? Am I missing something?

@Frowningprovidence
That sound like sort of a good idea to me.

Within the autistic community you already have people saying "female presentation" or PDA or AuDHD, autistic with global developmental delay.

But I'm in an online community where there are non verbal autistic people who are more clued up on what's happening in the word and their written words give absolutely no indication they are non verbal.

But would more accurate diagnosis help with that? Imagine it was more like 'types' rather than severity.

I'm not suggesting these, but as a very rough example:

Autism - type A (non verbal incontinent, no awareness of self or others)
Autism type b - highly anxious
Autism type c - adhd style

There's no hierarchy that B is better worse or more severe or needs less support or funding the C..

It would just mean that if you rang the gp and said your son was struggling it came up type b high suicide risk and they take it very seriously as that presentation of autusm carries a high risk.

@Perzival

I really really agree with all you are saying. My diagnosis is autism and when I got it I was told it would have been Asperger's a few years ago. I absolutely have needs NT people do not but my needs are nothing like my son who has much higher needs and would have always been autistic before we did away with Asperger's, but he can speak and while his communication is non typical he can communicate to a reasonable extent- I don't know if he will be able to live independently or not at this stage. Then I have a nephew who is completely non verbal and seems to have no idea what is going on around him, not looking like toilet training will happen anytime soon and it's long overdue. Basically he's severely and profoundly limited. Maybe he will start speaking and being aware of dangers etc but it's not looking likely. All 3 of these examples have the same diagnosis and that's madness. My needs are NOTHING compared to my nephew but still significant when compared to NT. We do really need a way to differentiate because people with needs like my nephew are being obscured by the 'higher functioning' autistics who are able to be vocal and seen