Please read my post again. You will see in points 2) and 3) that I specifically stated that in some cases people with other conditions are being diagnosed as autistic, especially those with de-novo genetic mutations which cause developmental delays etc. This is not autism, which can be identified by numerous hereditory genes and by brain scans showing specific commonalities in brain structure which differ from neurotypical people.
Also, as stated, these differences attributable to the common genes for autism are highly correlated with extremely high IQs, above the level of the general population.
At the same time, there is an identified correlation between autism and a higher prevalence of other co-morbid conditions which cause profound disability and low IQs, negating the positive affect of the autistic genes on IQ in the unfortunate people who have autism AND one of these other conditions. Hence the inverted bell-curve of IQs for autistic people with clusters at the extremes rather than in the centre, as is the case for neurotypical people.
These are all scientifically evidenced facts in multiple statistically validated academic research studies in these topics.
There is no such thing as “profound autism”. This is unscientific and there is no basis to assert that such a thing exists.
There are people who have been misdiagnosed with autism because the NHS doesn’t do proper genetic testing and brain scans due to cost so children with rare genetic mutations or syndromes are often misdiagnosed with autism when they do not share the common pathological features (the hereditory genes and resulting brain structure differences).
There are also people who DO have autism but because they ALSO have other conditions therefore have low IQs and other difficulties that have nothing to do with autism itself and are therefore profoundly disabled. They are NOT “more autistic” or “profoundly autistic”, they simply have autism AND another medical condition which causes them different difficulties which are NOT caused by the genes or brain structure differences that cause autism.
As I said, we know that there is a higher average IQ for autistic people WITHOUT other conditions than in the general population and we know why: because the same genes that have been identified for high IQ correlate highly with the genes for autism. The brain structure differences these create seem to enlarge parts of the brain that are involved in better cognitive reasoning, imagination, being able to understand complex concepts and make new connections between them. There is obviously far more to learn regarding precisely HOW and WHY these particular genes cause these changes, but it is evidenced that they do so by the data.
What is not yet understood is why there is also a higher prevalence of very low IQ and severe or profound disability in autistic people than in the general population as well. From the data available to date, it is clear that those who ONLY have autism, or autism and ADHD for example, generally fall into the above-average IQ group. Those who have other genetic conditions or sometimes environmental factors which seem to negatively interact with the autism genetics in some way end up with profound disabilities. These are not caused by their autism because there is no evidence whatsoever that the genes/ brain structures that all autistic people have cause any of these effects, rather the other conditions that these people have. Perhaps there is some negative interactions between some other types of gene and the autistic genes that in people who have BOTH causes this profound disability, which might explain the higher prevalence of these profoundly disabled people in the autistic population than in the general population. The connection as yet is unknown, and this is where research should be taking place to establish the causes of this effect of co-morbidity of autism PLUS certain other conditions resulting in profound disabilities.
The fact remains that autism itself does not cause profound disability (in the way the term has been used on this thread to describe low IQs, lack of any awareness of self or surroundings, cognitive disability to the extent of being incapable of ever learning any form of communication method - which is obviously not the same as communication difficulties and different language processing which IS associated with autism, but rather a complete lack of any ability to ever process it at all). There is no such thing as “profound autism”. There is, it seems, profound disability caused by autism PLUS other conditions.
I have not “fallen into” any “trap”. I am stating the findings of numerous studies by neuroscientists and geneticists.
I am sick of hearing all of this nonsense and people insulting each other. It won’t help anybody. Engagement with the scientific facts is the only hope if people want any way forward in terms of actually making life better for autistic people in future. As well as, of course, more understanding and social acceptance. Do the parents of profoundly disabled children really think they are doing their children favours in the long run by joining in the pile on to the autistic community by attacking adults with autism on public forums, feeding into the discrimination that exists already and making autistic people as a whole more of a target?
The way to get recognition for the needs of the profoundly disabled autistic people is not by attacking other people who also have autism and pretending that because they don’t also have the other conditions which in combination make the first person profoundly disabled their autism therefore isn’t “severe” or can be categorised as a different “level” or the impact of it can be determined by their care needs or how much it is visible to those around them. It’s unscientific nonsense and the people making these disgraceful and ignorant comments - while I understand their frustration with sub-standard services - are actually shooting themselves in the foot, attacking the wrong target, and clearly don’t understand the scientific research to date about their own children’s medical conditions.