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High Functioning

TheCatWoman

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.

Parents

  • In practice labeling myself as high functioning generally means difrent things to difrent people.

    • most people hear high functioning and think 'he doesn't need someone to change his nappy'
    • a few think 'supper genious' but this is very much the minority
    • Autistic people and people who work with autistic people hear 'high functioning' and know it means i have average / above average inteligence but other wise might struggel with a lot of non inteligence related autistic issues.

    For medical proffesionals their understanding of 'high functioning' can be anywhere between those 2 perspectives.

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  • In practice labeling myself as high functioning generally means difrent things to difrent people.

    • most people hear high functioning and think 'he doesn't need someone to change his nappy'
    • a few think 'supper genious' but this is very much the minority
    • Autistic people and people who work with autistic people hear 'high functioning' and know it means i have average / above average inteligence but other wise might struggel with a lot of non inteligence related autistic issues.

    For medical proffesionals their understanding of 'high functioning' can be anywhere between those 2 perspectives.

Children