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.

It’s a bit of a kick in the teeth to those of us who have made lives for ourselves, in spite of some pretty major challenges (and at a time when there was zero help) to be told we clearly “can’t be autistic”

You are building a straw man. No one said that.

Another issue is that some people conflate autism with learning disabilities and other co‑occurring conditions. These can appear alongside autism, but their presence or absence doesn’t determine whether someone is autistic or not.

This confusion has developed because the definition of autism has been revised so frequently over the years. It will likely stabilise again in the future as we gain more consistent information about the condition.

Because a lot of disability classification is for the purposes of assigning finances for care and support. It would be nice if there was enough for everyone's considered needs but because we live in an imperfect world, there are limited resources.

Autism and learning disability are not co-occurring conditions in individuals. They are both symptoms of a single condition in that individual. Which is why I say ‘autism’ is a false grouping and should be considered a symptom. It is a bit like grouping everyone who is ‘tired all the time’ as a single condition rather than recognising it as a symptom of numerous unrelated conditions and grouping by those instead.

Erm, yes they did. A poster further up said that anyone living a normal life cannot be autistic.

When diagnosing autism, and where on the spectrum the patient lies, professionals look at traits. Behaviours and reactions. It's not like a black or white chemical analysis of bloods says diabetic or what.
Some people display traits suggestive but not meeting all the criteria of autism spectrum level 4 or such.

I think this is where many get the idea of " mildly autistic".

There was an interesting article on New Scientist as to the pro and cons of a spectrum as opposed to a blanket diagnosis.

Take for example a mum who has just realised her husband is cheating on her and yet has to put on a brave face for her children (think Emma Thompson in love actually). It would certainly be exhausting, draining and she might well feel ill or get a migraine as a result. I would count that as a form of masking.

I would say the difference is that someone who is autistic has to mask more consistently and in many different situations.

@TheBlythe

This is the quote I was referring to.

Have to admit to being confused by what autism is. I see people claiming to be autistic - and may have an official diagnosis - but they don't seem to fit the criteria (mentioned by a PP):

• criterion A: persistent deficits in reciprocal social communication and social interaction
• criterion B: restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests or activities
• criterion C: symptoms must be present in the early developmental period
• criterion D: symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning
• criterion E: these disturbances are not better explained by intellectual disability or global developmental delay.

One example is Cat Burns. She was on 'Celebrity Traitors'. Surely a high stress environment like that, chaotic, with heavy sensory overload, and a huge emphasis on social interaction... surely someone with autism would struggle quite obviously in that situation?

If not, then what is autism?

All brains are different. Some autistic people, like any other person, are able to get to a stage where they can cope in these kind of situations.
I can put myself in situations now, as a woman in my 40s, that 20 year old me would have been a jibbering mess about.

I suppose you don't really know if someone is struggling. Autistic people (and especially autistic women and girls) can be struggling quite a lot internally but have learnt to act in a way that it doesn't show- however this is quite surface level and can't be kept up 24/7

I don't understand what you mean. Are you saying that every autistic person has a LD? Are you saying that autism + LD= a condition known as...?

Also, by 'co-occuring' i mean someone with autism can also have those conditions or not.

Some people are sensory seekers - they like a lot of sensory input. Sensory issues doesn’t just mean hypersensitivity, it includes hyposensitivity.

By definition you need significant impairment and persistent deficits in communication to be diagnosed . So I suppose it depends what’s meant by ‘functioning well’? I don’t think functioning well with lots of support is what’s meant here.

I never have.

Thanks for your answers, guys. I suppose the sticking point for me is:

symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning

The implication is that someone wouldn't be able to hide their symptoms very successfully. To have the disorder, the symptoms must significantly impact their life.

I just wonder if some things we might have put down to personality are now being classified as a disorder, and grouped inappropriately with what can be a severe disability. Someone like Cat Burns, for instance, might be shy and introverted. She's anxious, so she has little habits like fiddling with her hair. She prefers deeper, analytical conversations to small talk - doesn't that just make her a more cerebral person? In other words, she's kind of a nerd - and there's nothing wrong with that.

You can be tired all the time and put on weight if you have thyroid problems. Or tired all the time, and lose weight if you have cancer. Or tired all the time and no other symptoms if you have hyposomnia. Tired all the time is a common symptom of thyroid problems, cancer and hyposomnia.

So autism and learning disabilities are common symptoms of Down’s syndrome, and many other genetic conditions. They are not co-occurring: it is just labels given to symptoms of a single condition (Down’s syndrome). Another condition may have the labels autism and adhd given to aspects of that condition. And still another condition may only have autism as a symptom. They are different conditions which have a symptom in common, just as TATT is a symptom of the conditions I mentioned above.

I'm sorry but you are just showing your ignorance or your lack of empathy here.

Not all anorexic or bulimic or self harming people are NT they are doing it because of equally bad issues in their lives. Not everyone with anxiety bad enough to make them feel sick is NT. Depressed people who are not ND mask all the time to get through the day. Bereaved people mask all the time to get through the day. People in persistent unresolvable pain mask all the time to get through the day. Menopausal women mask all ..... yeah OK, you might have got it by now.,

Honestly, sometimes the advocates for the NT sound utterly self absorbed and completely uncaring about the issues faced by anyone but themselves.

The majority of the population.

I am not NT, I have autism.

I know lots of NT people mask and totally understand the reasons why, but it's not remotely the same as autistic masking and to suggest otherwise is pretty offensive.

That doesn't mean their masking isn't valid or that they shouldn't receive support, of course.

I don't understand why you have quoted me. So you're ND, so am I, so is my husband, welcome to the club!

Because you quoted me!

At 14.53, to be precise.

She is literally saying that “autism and learning disability…are both symptoms of a single condition” in some individuals.

That they shouldn’t be thought of as separate (or co-occuring) conditions in those individuals.

I agree.

I see you edited and added to your post.

It is not offensive to recognise that there are many, many NT people in the world who have problems equal to or worse than those faced by people who are ND.

You are not in a position to judge whether their masking is harder than yours or not, you cannot experience their state of mind.

It is overwhelmingly self-centred not to understand that and the offence is actually in believing that nobody else's problems can possibly be a bad as your own.

I didn't say their problems couldn't be as bad, I said you can't compare NT and autistic masking because, by definition, autism is a disability and people with autistic brains experience the world in a very different way.

I'm sure plenty of NT people struggle with things I don't. That's life - none of us will ever have the same experience as another.