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.
In practice labeling myself as high functioning generally means difrent things to difrent people.
For medical proffesionals their understanding of 'high functioning' can be anywhere between those 2 perspectives.
I agree it’s not simple atall I’ve heard of people who can compose intelligent posts on forums and have an excellent grasp of the English language yet have no self care skills and cam’t live independently.
I lived on my own in a 11th floor flat for 12 years after my wife dead. I lived in a tip and self neglected. My daughter eventually persuaded me to move near her. I get very good support from her and my granddaughters. High range IQ tests are a doddle compared to daily living tasks most people take in their stride.
Iain, I've had years of therapy and to be honest I dont' think my issue with maths and tech would be sorted that easily, things that go back into childhood like that tend to take a long time. I'd have to find a therapist that knew what the hell I was talking about in the first place which wouldn't be easy, especially round here.
TheCatWoman said:At my age I dont' see the point of years of therapy
It may only take a few sessions - it was all it took for me to deal with some of my childhood traumas. This had a few follow up sessions to check I was coping ok with the new ways of thinking and reacting and it improved quality of life for me a lot.
You could consider it an investment in your remaining years to get the most out of them that you can.
Or not. I have chosen to retain some of my bad behaviours as I feel they are part of my identity, but I also have the comfort that I have the tools at my disposal if I change my mind later on.
I think it all started with my very first maths lesson when I was about 7 and the teacher said she was going to smack anyone who got it wrong. I understood what she said and she kept explaining it and I thought it couldn't be that easy and I must be wrong, so I wrote down the wrong answer and got smacked. I'd never been smacked at school before and was upset, embarassed and outraged.
At my age I dont' see the point of years of therapy, even if I could get it, I'd probably just about get passed it in time to die! lol
TheCatWoman said:When confronted with a maths or tech question I feel my brain slide into this sort of fugue state where I feel not really present, it's similar to the sorts of disassociation I used to go into when being abused,
I think this is the crux of your "performance" issues with the learning and application of knowledge.
It is a trauma response based on something quite probably unrelated but one that is the brains go-to state when faced with something stressful.
IF you can unpack this and then train your brain out of the habit then things can change but that is a lot of work over a long time and you would really have to want it badly to make it worthwhile.
I guess the most likely option is you remain uniquely, beautifully you - accept your limitations if you must, own your traits and live your best life.
Do you think it could be the response mechanism the body uses in emergency situations? (would Google it but I'm very distractible today so would forget to finish this message if I did)
During post diagnosis sessions they talked about us being very often, sometimes always in that state , where fight flight or freeze kicks in, maybe your maths and tech thing is the "freeze" as you somehow find it startling?
I'm starting to see how it has an affect on me with certain demands, I can end up doing nothing at all as I just zone out when I try to start doing certain things.