Explain to me why you offence is caused by saying things like 'mildly autistic' etc.

[Purpleturtle45]

If ASD is a spectrum why do people commonly disagree that you can be mildly autistic or severely autistic etc.

My daughter is diagnosed with ASD, however you wouldn't really know unless you knew her well. She goes to mainstream school and copes well with everyday life most of the time so to me I would say she is mildly autistic but I often see people getting ripped to shreds on here for using that term.

Genuinely wondering how 'spectrum' can literally be in the title of the condition but people disagree there can be different severities.

Who are you to dictate and categorise the severity and autism of others?

This is the case for a almost every diagnosis imaginable though is it not? There are varying severities and varying impacts.

To those arguing for reclassification or separation of diagnosis, my question is this: where do you draw the line?

The main reason why the separation between "Asperger's" and "classic autism" was dissolved was that for many people, which diagnosis you received depended on the day, the diagnostician, and the environment in which you were assessed. I never neatly fit into a category, and I'd say the majority of other autistic people I know are the same; somewhere between the two.

If they're considered separate conditions, how is it possible that many people fit the criteria for one condition one day and another condition the next? Or have one as a child and another as an adolescent, and perhaps even another as an adult? I was diagnosed in my teens after my mother's concerns were dismissed in my early childhood, and I was diagnosed as having what would have been called "Asperger's" even just a year earlier.

As a young child, I think that label was an adequate, if somewhat lacking, diagnosis for my particular issues. I'm verbal, I liked school, I had a small group of close friends. By my late teens, however, it failed to capture the fact that I will never live independently, still need assistance with hygiene and toileting when I'm even mildly ill, have self-injurious meltdowns, and shutdowns where I lose my ability to communicate. If someone saw me in those not-infrequent moments, they'd assume I was a closer, if still inaccurate, fit for "classic autism."

Realistically, unless there are dozens of subcategories created and it's established that people can move between many of those categories over the course of their life, most autistic people will fail to fit into smaller, more rigid criteria. And at that point, the categorisation is effectively the same as just describing each person's needs and symptoms, as we tend to do now, and less helpful for establishing support needs to boot.

She’s not. She’s trying to open a dialogue but again you’ve jumped to the offensive interpretation, seeing only what you want to see - people you perceive to be dismissing you.

Autism and support needs can’t be put in a neat box however much that disappoints others who frankly have nothing to do with the diagnosis of others anyway.

Of course, but I think the issue with the autism criteria as they stand is that the two "extremes" (for want of a better term) are just so, SO different that.

I have the same diagnosis as someone who requires 24/7 care in a facility, who will never speak and who is incontinent. It makes no sense.

Yet it is supposedly ok if the higher needs of those with profound autism are constantly dismissed and brushed aside…

Again this is the same for every diagnosis, many of which can be/are categorised to reflect severity in some way.

Can you not see how it is useful to know the difference between a non verbal, in nappies autistic teen (they do exist), and a teen with autism who needs support doing an activity due to overwhelm of crowds?

Carers may use "mild" or "severe" in those cases to differentiate quickly between the 2. They don't have hours of time for handovers and need to be prepared for what they're walking in to. Obviously over time you'd hope they'd get to know the individual and use appropriate strategies for support. Same as in a classroom. It really helps if a plan gives some idea of need. So many times I see Autistic and that's it. Even Ed psych report troll out v similar looking reports for 2 differently presenting children.

If they're considered separate conditions, how is it possible that many people fit the criteria for one condition one day and another condition the next? Or have one as a child and another as an adolescent, and perhaps even another as an adult? I was diagnosed in my teens after my mother's concerns were dismissed in my early childhood, and I was diagnosed as having what would have been called "Asperger's" even just a year earlier.

Conditions change over time and can get better or worse - why should autism be any different? People are often diagnosed with X in childhood and that ends up being reclassified or changed to Y in adulthood. Autism/Aspergers could be the same, though I suspect that would be almost impossible to enact in reality.

Where has anyone done that?

Apologies, I should have clarified, if a professional were to tell you that, would you feel dismissed or brushed aside?

Would you also feel that way if you were diagnosed with Stage 2 cancer, or told you had mild allergies, mild arthritis, or dysthymia (aka, mild depression)?

Medical professionals, and people in general, find it useful to classify things on scales of severity. And in the case of autism, where there is no biological test, without comparison how would you know whether you diverge from the norm, or how much you diverge from the norm in certain areas, or not?

A scale of severity is not an attack on you, or your struggles.

On an individual level, you are of course right. But how do you have that conversation in a more general way/at population level?

Next time a young mum confides in you they have stage four liver cancer, let them know your elderly father is just the same with his controlled prostate cancer…

It would depend on the professional, I suppose, and the context.

Lots of medical conditions are dismissed because professionals describe them as "mild" when they are very much not mild to the person experiencing them.

The scale may not be intended as an attack but when you're constantly told "you're fine, you're high functioning" it certainly feels like one.

I suppose I don't understand why you need to.

If someone tells you they have a diagnosis of X and that they struggle with Y as a result, why not accept that for what it is and support them? Why do you need to compare it with Joe and Jane who also have the same diagnosis but don't struggle as much, or with Bob and Bonnie who struggle more?

My mother has had several small cancers that just needed to be burnt off with liquid nitrogen. My grandmother had cancer that required a double mastectomy and radiation treatment, and which eventually spread throughout her body despite all the treatment, and killed her slowly and painfully.

They both had cancer.

Firstly their support needs will be obvious, different and well decided well before a “ handover”. And the teen you’re so dismissive of may have repetitive self harming habits, be suicidal or have a severe eating disorder, no sense of danger and may well be non verbal some or all of the time.

I've got no intention of categorising anyone's disability, what gave you that idea, sensitive much? I'm literally asking the affected person how they would like their own condition to be described.

I had a very similar experience to your son and I’m sure my mum felt similar to you. The end result was me getting expelled from sixth form and I really think if I had better support earlier it wouldn’t have happened because once I had my support I was doing great and have been ever since. We suspect my DS has ASD and it is presenting similar to me as a child. We’ve had some comments from family about getting him diagnosed young but I want him to understand himself and have the support he needs as soon as possible to hopefully make being a teenager easier.

The small cancers could well spread and turn into needing radiation treatment if not treated with the acknowledgment they need.

Yes, but they were classified very differently.

We should do that with autism too, IMO.

Because people like me who'd you'd class as "mildly autistic" still have the same struggles as someone who'd you class as "severally autistic". Some people believe that people like me often have more internal struggles because we can see and understand what is classed as normal but physically can't do that, we also notice the stares, the comments etc.

Not dismissive at all, just realistic that there is a difference between the two!

There's a difference in hearing loss, that isn't just linear either. We manage to describe that using words.

I get that, but if the underlying criteria is the same then I think you can only classify it by severity and not a different diagnosis surely. Maybe in the future there will be a way to differentiate but we've really only just figured out that girls have autism too so it's a long, long way away. I'm glad to see women with the same diagnosis having different views on it because it's only in that way understanding can progress. There are still people who think autism isn't even real 🙄