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Do higher functioning people want to deny lower functioning exist?

Roswell

I think perhaps they do. I would say I'm more on the lower-functioning end of the spectrum. Despite being intelligent enough I can barely make eye contact with people and have no friends where I live, and have never had a proper romantic relationship.

I went to an Autistic social group and definitely felt excluded for having more support needs than the others. I often feel left out on Twitter too. I have 34 followers there, mostly Autistic people, but very rarely do any of them reply to anything I put on. Most of them are more successful than me, have more friends, more of a life, etc. 

It often feels I'm pissing in the wind, getting nowhere. 

Parents

  • I'm not sure that I know where the boundary between 'higher' and 'lower' functioning people lies.

    It's very clear that autism has a different impact on different people, and that some people on the spectrum have greater challenges in some areas than others. It may well be that some people look at those that struggle with things they can do and feel distinct from them, or even feel a need to distance themselves.

    That's true for anybody responding to a disability or failure to adopt norms though, rather than a trait or aspect of 'higher' functioning autism.

    Personally I'm glad that I do not have the issues that some autistic people face, even as i struggle with my own. I don't however for a moment deny that those people exist, that their issues exist or that they need support and help. To the extent that I may be guilty of avoiding them, it certainly would not be denial. I can't cope with my own issues, trying to handle someone else's is often quite beyond me, it really is easier to just walk away.

    Cruel perhaps, but also a survival instinct. I can offer only sympathy.

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  • I'm not sure that I know where the boundary between 'higher' and 'lower' functioning people lies.

    It's very clear that autism has a different impact on different people, and that some people on the spectrum have greater challenges in some areas than others. It may well be that some people look at those that struggle with things they can do and feel distinct from them, or even feel a need to distance themselves.

    That's true for anybody responding to a disability or failure to adopt norms though, rather than a trait or aspect of 'higher' functioning autism.

    Personally I'm glad that I do not have the issues that some autistic people face, even as i struggle with my own. I don't however for a moment deny that those people exist, that their issues exist or that they need support and help. To the extent that I may be guilty of avoiding them, it certainly would not be denial. I can't cope with my own issues, trying to handle someone else's is often quite beyond me, it really is easier to just walk away.

    Cruel perhaps, but also a survival instinct. I can offer only sympathy.

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