Don’t call me “high functioning”

bpdzoldyck:

Let me tell you something about autism

I know an autistic person who

• Can usually make eye contact for short periods
• Can usually understand body language
• Can usually understand sarcasm
• Rarely goes nonverbal
• Rarely has meltdowns or shutdowns
• Does not stim “loudly” around other people

This person does not look autistic, they can hold conversations and pass as neurotypical. They seem to be “high functioning”.

I also know an autistic person who

• Often cannot go to the store alone
• Often cannot tolerate being touched
• Often forgets to do things like shower and eat
• Often cannot hear people speaking to him when other people are talking
• Often cannot change tasks/start a new task without intervention even for important things like switching from browsing Tumblr to getting food
• Often gets disoriented by sensory overload in stores, schools, workplaces, restaurants and even just walking down the street
• Often cannot maintain focus long enough to watch anything but simple cartoons or read anything but simple comics

This person will likely never function independently, complete college or have a job. They will likely always require support from family, friends or partners. They seem to be “low functioning”

Guess what?

They’re both me.

The point is that no matter how high functioning an autistic person appears in conversation with you, you’re only seeing part of the picture. I without fail am always told I must be “high functioning” when I say I’m autistic because all people are looking at are my social skills (and I received intervention when young that taught me many of the social skills I was lacking) but the reality is autism involves much more than that and by many other standards I am “low functioning”. Those just happen to be the aspects of it that are invisible to the people who don’t help to care for me.

Regardless of how valid you believe functioning labels to be it’s inappropriate to apply them to an autistic person without their permission, especially if you don’t know them well. Autism is not that simple and many of the things that affect a persons ability to function aren’t easy to see.