Criticism of the diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Yes, that's the one!

I coped extremely well, as a child, but once I became a man I suddenly felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. In the end, I underachieved in life; only surviving because of my Grandfather's labour.

On reflection, School and Uni were counter-productive.

That makes sense.

Desmond Morris, and his books, were my saviour.

Yes, I did that. I'm a trainer and used to teach some emotive stuff. Other trainers read body language, I had to go look it up. Wiggly bottom? Do they need a pee, pants too tight, or does the subject matter upset them??? 

My inability to accurately read body language and expressions was definitely a deficit when I desperately wanted to find a romantic partner in my younger years. I could not reliably detect when a woman was attracted to me and could not signal my own interest in response. I eventually became better at these things, by researching them in books and scientific papers, but it took a long and frustrating time.

all that plus what's said to be my deficits, are not my deficits, only the result of the unwillingness of the society to be forthcoming and inclusive

It’s about how you view them. I fully accept my deficits. They make me who I am. I know why I have them,  and I’m fine with it, especially since I have plenty of positives, which balances things out for me personally.

Agreed. But why are they interfering? Nop! Can't catch a rounders ball, who cares? Despite the dyslexia though, I got a MFL degree - just did some stuff differently. It's a mute point to be sure, and I'm not gain saying you. But as I use to say to my son when the one subject he didn't excel in was art: "You can't have all the talents, love. That would just be greedy". He laughed. 

Differences are deficits, if they interfere with whatever it is that you wish to achieve.

Yes, but I like to think of those 'deficits' as differences. :-)

Exactly...and we pay for it in other ways

I concur. Although, I would offer the comment for your reflection and consideration. I'll give you a for instance:

When I first realised I could be on the Spectrum, I recognised the sensory and repetitive stuff instantaneously, but scratched my head a while over the social and communication stuff. I am a linguist, a qualified trainer, I was good at drama a school, I have been known to enjoy at party and I have friends. How 'socially developed' does it get???...then, I remembered my first day at school, sitting in bewilderment while other kids played and I had no clue what they were doing, the play ground bullies, the social gaffes and the times I didn't know what to say to small talk. And then there are my mother's very strange tales about my early linguistic development.

At my assessment, I was in fact found to meet ALL of the criteria, albeit the word "high functioning" was used. I don't buy into that any more than "mild/sever" autism, really.

There are many people who will struggle to or cannot ever live alone, to be sure. Their support needs are clearly greater and more continuous than mine. I obviously have found a million and one work arounds and compensation strategies over the years since I was the bewildered kid with no idea what play was for or how to interact with the strange creatures that were other children, and I appear in most contexts to be socially more than competent, even if that's exhausting.

But, put me in a medical context, for instance, where the senses are bombarded or even ambushed, there is little escape, the information processing demands too high while anxiety is sky rocketing and I am stimming dramatically, with shut down or melt down imminent...then, I can go completely non-verbal. No hope I will produce any social grace or nicety then or communicate in any way that makes sence or at all. Every work around or compensation strategy I ever had will immediately collapse as the distress overtakes me...

Not too sure, I can be said to be only "mildly" autistic or very "high functioning" then. In that context, my support need shoots from zero to very significant indeed, and it isn't there for me.

However, as to your issue about the restrictiveness of the criteria...I think they are about right now for a diagnosis of autism. However, there certainly are folk who meet many criteria, although not all; who have a high number of traits and are 'of the phenotype'. For instance, you can have a sensory processing disorder without autism. I'd defend their right to understand themselves through assessment too and to further benefit from reasonable adjustment and support where they share overlap with autistic people. I do think there is a grey area surrounding the boarders of the spectrum of folk who are neither autistic nor quiet neurotypical, whose needs can also be significant in some contexts and yet are also often are unmet.

I know I can ‘pass’ as NT, and I am able to socialise and do small talk when I need too, and I lead a fully independent life.. This doesn’t mean that my autism is mild, becuase I have many deficits and problems that others didn’t see.  Meltdowns are few and far between because I know my triggers. However, I can still be ‘shutdown’ and be at work, and no one would know. Autism significantly affects all areas of my life, which is why I am diagnosed. 

Some autistics can appear to be fully functional in society. However, being on the surface entirely functional does not reflect the amount of effort required, or the levels of anxiety, mental distress and exhaustion that an autistic person can suffer, in order to appear to function.

I think that autistic people who are high-functioning or good in social situations are usually adept at masking. They would still have the problems listed (or a history of them) but found ways to cover them up or restrict them.

I can understand how it’s confusing as the tests create this idea there is a gradience. But it’s just inaccurate. 

Sometimes the difference between someone who is a well adjusted happy autistic human and navigating a society they are mismatched for with a little more learned skill, and someone who’s not can be due to how much Trauma one has encountered and or been equipped to overcome. Sometimes that can be related to financial sources and sometimes it’s just the personality. 

It’s time we stop talking of a group of humans as if they’re broken. Autism is a set of qualities and anyone can have added needs or difficulties. NeuroTypical individuals like repetition, just a different kind. Think of the silly ways they prefer to greet each other over and over. 

Social skills to some degree can be learned. But more importantly we can all learn to be kind, understanding, not presume and create a little bit of better surroundings with the aesthetic of manners. It doesn’t mean I can read your subtext or relate, but I can show compassion and grace. And expect the same in return. It’s important to work out these distinctions and what the secret code for a seemingly plain psychological term really means :)  

NAS73676 said:

milder form of Autism Spectrum Disorder

there is nothing like that, and please you shouldn't be using it

each of us can be 'mild' on good days and 'low' on bad days, and  'severe' when things go really bad

www.youtube.com/watch

so we are simply autistic