Published on 12, July, 2020
Is What does this actally mean in practice, not the dictionary definition, but for those of us so labelled? Although no ones ever told me I'm high functioning, I guess I am.
Is it a helpful term or unhelpful?
Does it express our experiences properly or reflect away from them?
Is this a term more helpful to NT's than us?
Personally I find the term a bit insulting as well as divisive and dismissive.
I was born decades before there were terms like 'gifted and disabled'/'2e'. There was no help for people like me back then. It took over 40 years as a psych patient for it to be seen that I had genuine difficulties, and wasn't just a passive aggressive obstructionist with a huge character defect. Years in which I was seen in a bad light because I deviated from the uniformity of performance that was expected/demanded. Years when criticism was seen as a suitable proxy for much needed help and support.It took moving to be near my daughter and her liaising with mental health services, before I moved, for damaging inaccuracies to be kicked into the long grass. By then,I was 60, so much damage had been done that realistically was irreversible. I don't expect my mental health team to be able to make everything as it could/should've been. That would be unfair. I'm just glad that in the nearly 7 years I've been here I've been treated with decency and respect. No animosity. No exchange of angry words. A huge difference to how things were where I lived before.I get great and much appreciated help and support from my 'chosen family', as I call them.Unfortunately not all health professionals where I live now are of the same quality as my mental health team. I had 7 weeks with a broken femur before an x ray revealed it. That was because the immense pain was dismissed as 'psychological' by paramedics and a GP. Why? Because it had to be 'psychological' due to my having autism and schizoaffective diagnoses. 29 months after a hip replacement I still get pain after a bad night's sleep,or if I'm upright-moving or static for too long .I'll never be able to go outside for a walk on my own again whether unaided or using a stroller. It's not worth the risk given the premature osteoporosis that I have.
What all that boils down to is that I'm mixed functioning . I find it easier to do a high range IQ test than to coordinate my brain to keep my flat clean and tidy, or other daily living tasks that most take in their stride.
Looking at the different levels, of which previously I was not aware of I don't think I fit any of the criteria for support needs.