To think the terms "neuro diverse" and "neuro typical" will be short lived.

[theplatformedge]

Diversity means "a range of many people or things that are very different from each other" (Oxford learner's dictionary), so the idea that a minority of people are "neuro diverse" and everyone else is "neuro typical" is not only semantically illogical, but also potentially offensive.

We're all different. Some people have traits that make life more difficult for them than others, whether it be ASD, ADHD or a range of other conditions, with spectrums of severity. Telling people that you're neuro-diverse is so vague as to be meaningless, and telling other people they are nero-typical when you have no idea what they're feeling inside is insensitive. Some people get a formal diagnosis for their symptoms, some people self-diagnose and others don't recognise it in themselves. Nobody knows how many people are living with these traits across the population, but the massive increase in diagnostics suggests they're a lot more common than anyone ever thought in the past, and therefore gradually becoming very "typical".

Discuss! 🙂

I mean in relation to NT, I think the bit I'm quoting was lost maybe. My sons got dyspraxia and and a language disorder, the other has asd and language disorder, my dd has asd. ND doesn't mean quirky to me. My kids are what are paediatrician has deemed them to be. I'm not banding about quirky kids. My children are diagnosed by NHS doctors.

NT is something I'd lump people under with no diagnosis.

Nd lumps together those who have.

However as said up thread what ever you say you offend someone. My son ASD flavour is spicy non verbal but I can't say severe. My dds flavour is korma and mensa IQ but I can't say mild. So when I talk about my kids you'd think they are similar. They are not in any way similar. As I also said, I hate talking about ASD and in real life I only talk about with safe people. The only thing that offends me is because saying "were all the spectrum" as its insulting to my son, but I'd never say in real life if your the 1000th person to inform me "were all on the spectrum". No. We all have traits. My son is 16 and the more I know about autism the more I'm convinced it's not purpose to try to educate anyone. So please don't take anything to heart I say. I never chose this role, I'm just coping as best I can. It's almost Taboo. Like everything it's gone full circle.

@ronoi *What’s the point in having a spectrum? Surely there will be people on the milder end of the spectrum?

'The spectrum' isn't a line we put people on whilst pitting them against each other*

Spectrum isn't a line, but it takes account of variation, and in the case of autism (if you are including Aspergers' then the variation is enormous), and so we need there to be a way of explaining the condition of people. I am mildly dyslexic; I am not pitted against people who are severely affected, but thankful and grateful I do not have that.
My DB is severely autistic (life long care etc). People with mild Aspergers who are capable of functioning in every day life, even if it's very hard, are a world apart. Stating they have mild Aspergers is not pitting them against my brother, simply pointing this out. It doesn't mean there is a simple line - we all understand this is not a simple condition at all.

@LewishamMumNow

Spectrum isn't a line, but it takes account of variation, and in the case of autism (if you are including Aspergers' then the variation is enormous), and so we need there to be a way of explaining the condition of people.

It takes account of rhe individuals variations. Not person A V person B

@AloeNora *Very few people with autism will have jobs and relationships not impacted hugely as they wouldn’t get a diagnosis if they hadn't been.

Really starting to wonder if some posters actually know how autism diagnosis works.

Why are we having to justify our autism, why is it not ok to pick apart other disability diagnosis but fine to do so with autism?*

The first sentence is true, but severely autistic people are completely incapable of having jobs and relationships (my DB would not know what either word meant), so there's a big difference between that and struggling in them (which lots of people do, for all sorts of reasons).

Nobody is asking anyone to "justify our autism", but rather pointing out that if you combine it with a job and your own family (partner, your own kids etc), then you obviously have it mildly. The biggest proponents of this are those with family members who are severely autistic, and to be fair, they can't represent themselves on this - my DB can't read or write and wouldn't have a clue what this debate was all about.

Pointing out the obvious - that someone who can hold down a job with a diagnosis of autism can only possibly have a mild version of it, does not mean they are not impacted by it and does not involve anyone having to "justify" anything at all.

@ronoi
WTF has that got to do with "John's got severe autism; Mary has mild autism". That is not pitting people against each other; just pointing out the obvious. Allowing Mary to go online and say that she is being pitted against people is daft; and John has no say at all if his family are excluded from this debate, which is surely wrong.
I have mild dyslexia. I am not pitted against people with severe dyslexia, just grateful that's not me.
I think some people need to get a grip - and be grateful - that they have milder versions of whatever condition it is.

I tried but it's so jumbled

I have no idea who the fuck John and Mary are but the autistic spectrum doesn't place people in order of severity.

the autistic spectrum doesn't place people in order of severity
No one said it is. But it still makes sense to describe people as mild, severe, etc based on their overall abilities and capabilities etc. That is neither offensive or nonsense.
I am mildly dyslexic. That is not my diagnosis - I am still dyslexic - but it's also true I'm mildly dyslexic. Ditto, anyone with Aspergers who has ever had a job clearly has mild Aspergers. Yes, they have Aspergers, but mildly.

Not they definitely did, which I why I initially commented to correct them.

I'm going to step back from this exchange now because it's not helpful.

LewishamMumNow

There is no such thing as mild autism. You either have it or you haven’t and the bar is high. We’re not talking about learning difficulties but autism. Do not belittle my diagnosis or my children’s’. You have no right to, in the same way you have no right to down grade and label any other disability. You are not living with it, you did not diagnosis us.NHS consultants did who most certainly did not say any of our diagnosis are mild- quite the reverse. My dd will have relationships and a job along with her enhanced PIP and team of support. Do not tell me or her to get a grip, we’ve been close to losing her several times the last few years.

Anyone who has had a job does not have mild Asperger’s. You are making things up and it’s highly offensive.

@LewishamMumNow

When you deny the existence of mild autism (which anyone capable of contributing to this discussion and claiming to be autistic clearly has)

Wait. You think people with autism are only mildly affected if they can join a typed discussion anonymously?

You have absolutely no idea how people manage day to day.

My daughter can’t stand up for herself. She does have it bloody severely. It impacts her life hugely. Her team don’t describe her autism as mild and never have done,nor did her diagnostician. Quite the reverse. She is in and out of hospital and it impacts her life severely. Do not tell me what my daughter has. She does not have mild autism and neither does her brother. You are not a diagnostician and have no right dictating, labelling and downgrading people’s disabilities.

@AloeNora Maybe your DD has it moderately; I'm sorry she is suffering so much. But my DB can't read or write his own name, wash his hair, does not know what sex is, cannot leave the house unaccompanied, can't make toast. He is 32. And there are people with autism who are far more autistic and disabled than he is.
Cleary if my DB can't do these things then others with the condition (or more accurately Aspergers), who can type online, get a job (my DB wouldn't know what that was), have the condition much more mildly than he does. Denying this is cruel and unfair on him, and saying that only people with the condition can contribute/know what it's like etc, is completely denying my DB any rights at all.

It’s an absolute delusion to think there’s such a thing as high functioning autism - it’s simply high masking But some people are so autistic they cannot mask at all; that's the difference, however hard masking is.

@LewishamMumNow

@AloeNora Maybe your DD has it moderately;

How dare you presume to tell someone else about their own child.

LewishamMumNow

No women and girls often present differently. Non maskers don’t own autism. Masking can be catastrophic .

My son doesn’t mask. He is severely impacted with autism. My daughter does mask with catastrophic results. She has ended up needing the biggest package and support.

My daughter’s disability is not moderate. It’s severe, hence her eligibility for enhanced PIP and all the support she has. You do not know her or her diagnosis.

Yes you have got the difference between autism with and without mental impairment. What you seem to not grasp is how that’s different to autistic needs and support level which is interchangeable for all autistic people. Yes, it’s highly likely that people such as your brother and my son will need continual high level support, but that doesn’t mean that people with autism without severe mental impairment will not need high level support at some point. Would you like me to relink the Anne Hergerty article I posted above? Where she, a once working woman suffered an autistic burnout that lead to social care support? And yes is now working again and in a position to share her very real experience but there are still people like you diminishing what it means to be autistic without global delays.

I nearly didn't comment on this post in the first place, because I knew how it would go. Adults with autism shouting down parents who have children who are severely impacted by their autism- severe autism.
Parents who care for their children (young and adult) who will never get a job or live independently. Who need help navigating every single aspect of the world. Who could never possibly come on an online forum and represent themselves. These parents need to be able to communicate to people effectively that their loved ones are severely autistic or moderately autistic. There was a time that they could simply say they are autistic, but thanks to better diagnosis, that term covers a wider range of people now. Which is fine and I'm glad they have a diagnosis to get the support they may need. But now we are told by adults recently diagnosed, that we can't even use language to describe the severity of our childrens condition.
I wish the adults with autism on this forum would understand that nobody is doubting their diagnosis. They need to stop policing the language that is needed to get those severely impacted, the help that they need.
The patronising 'Oh you are so ignorant about ASD, you know nothing' needs to stop too. Imagine caring for an autistic child for 20 years and learning everything about the condition, only to be told by somebody recently diagnosed, how clueless you are.

that doesn’t mean that people with autism without severe mental impairment will not need high level support at some point
I never said that could not be the case. My point is simply that autism can and should be described as mild, severe, and so on; that does not deny that people with a diagnosis either have it or do not, but the alternative is totally on those at the severe end. I am not disputing that people with milder versions can still have significant needs, needs that will vary over time, and will sometimes need significant help in various ways.

....totally unfair on those who have it severely......

Errr last I read posters such as yourselves are labelling the autism of people you have never met and dictating the severity of autism they have. It’s hugely offensive and not ok.

To the people that are dead against using the words mild or severe etc, surely you've just moved the same word to in front of "mental impairment" or "learning difficulties" etc?
So what used to be people saying my child has severe autism, you now want people to say my child has autism with severe mental impairment.
Surely the word severe is still in there so surely that's still admitting they ARE more severely affected whichever way you look at it?