Understanding my 17 year olds diagnosis and ADOS score

I agree that the aspergers (and I think lrvels) is being phased out. America seems to be ahead of us on this one. Aspergers seems to be causing a stir but i only know loosely why from internet posts from people so not 100 percent accurate and take with a pinch of salt but I've seen Asperger had involvement with Nazi's, I've also seen it's now offensive to be labelled as having aspergers as it's like a superiority to the 'label's autism.

Anyway that's all loosely based on comments sections and forums so not fact. I'll look it up one day

I'd focus more on your sons struggles. Identify what these may be and how to overcome them now that you have the knowledge that hes somewhere on the spectrum as it's not really useful. Dont worry about what stage hes labelled as, it's not really of any use. I wonder if you perhaps are struggling with the diagnosis and just need to know hes 'higher up the spectrum' to feel better? Personally I was told I'm higher functioning, however I have huge struggles in certain aspects of life that someone classed 'lower functioning' may be coping with. So I think the higher functioning status can be dangerous as I was thought to be coping yet I had huge struggles leading to vulnerability. I'm glad your son has you to look out for him. Stay strong, know it's just a different way of thinking. Ive also read that it could be evolution of humankind. If you think about it in detail this makes sense in a way. 

Thanks so much for your replies

Hopefully his report will give me some idea 

thanks for your help and advice 

I was diagnosed two years ago and my report simply says autistic too. They've done away with sub-categories, as like our peers with the predominant neurotype (PNT) the needs and personalities of the autistic neurotype vary widely.  The subcategories were doing more harm than good as they had become associated with stereotypes that don't really represent what autistics are like.

Being autistic simply means your son is likely to communicate in a different way to his neurotypical peers e.g he may dislike small talk and prefer to jump straight into meaty conversations, plus he's likely to process the sensory world differently.  

You may find this book useful to develop your understanding of this neurotype 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Autism-Asperger-Syndrome-Childhood-diagnosed/dp/1847094929/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=luke+beardon+children&qid=1573819820&sr=8-1

I think you get a diagnosis of ASC level 1,2 or 3 depending on the support you need.

I'm level 1, requiring minimum support - effectively Aspergers or High Functioning Autism

They are right, it is all under the same umbrella diagnosis of autism/ASD (some areas do still use Aspergers diagnosis but probably not for much longer because of changes in the diagnostic manuals they use). The reason was because separating it into 'types' of autism was kind of arbitrary, there weren't a lot of good reasons for it and it wasn't consistent (so two people could have similar 'profiles' and different diagnoses).

The ADOS does not indicate 'severity' of autism as far as I know (as much as that makes sense). You might want to read up on the whole concept of the autistic spectrum; this is a good article that also explains why describing people by functioning labels, or 'mild' or 'severe' or whatever way of trying to describe 'how autistic' someone is doesn't really make sense and is generally a bad idea. A much repeated addage is 'if you've met one autistic person, you've met one autistic person'. We have a collection of things in common, but how those things affect us is so individual that it does not make sense to try and pigeonhole people into 'levels' or to quantify 'how autistic' someone is.

Your son's diagnostic report will hopefully make clear the specific difficulties that have been recognised in his assessments, and I think that's what you should focus on-the difficulties (and strengths) he has as an individual.