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Oyez, oyez! Calling all "high functioners"!

Deleted User

...Autism is a spectrum and everyone is different. What characterises a diagnosis of autism is if it has an impact on ones daily life. I am classed as "high functioning" but currently do not know what this means.

Overload as a result from doing less than what someone who is not autistic can do. This means currently bare minimum of activity because intolerance and sensory input cannot be regulated. 
Working hours are reduced because of the struggle to cope with full time even though preference is to work more. The load is primarily from executive function difficulties which also include the social aspect and sensory. Fatigue on a daily basis which impacts everything.

So, when people make throwaway comments like "we're all a bit autistic" or "I think my dog is a bit autistic" (yes, I was present), or labels like "high functioning", or someone gets imposter syndrome thinking they are "not autistic enough", just remember - the difficulties faced - on a daily basis - which many people do not face.

I'm not saying no-one else has problems, but they are of a different kind.

Parents

  • My IQ has been messured at 123. That's it. That's what high functioning is. You have normal / high inteligence. The term has nothing to do with how well you function within sociaty or daily life. Autistic people with high IQ are gona have better coping stratergies, usually, but not always. And sometimes having a good coping stratergy hurts you in the long run because when it breaks down no one is ready to help or make alowences.

  • in reply to Peter
    Peter said:
    My IQ has been messured at 123. That's it. That's what high functioning is. You have normal / high inteligence. The term has nothing to do with how well you function within sociaty or daily life.

    It actually has the opposite meaning of how you've described it. Per my previous reply, IQ levels can vary significantly among those who might be termed "high functioning". The term relates only to their - perceived / assumed - ability to cope in society and daily life. And therein lies part of the issue with the terminology.

  • in reply to Bunny

    sigh here we go again. Ok I'm using this search for academic papers before 1990 as a refrence. These are some of the earlyest academic papers I could find that use the term 'high functioning.'

    This one "A study of intellectual abilities in high-functioning people with autism" is particularly telling and I will quote it here

    "We separately compared an independent population of nonretarded autistic children to groups of receptive developmental language disorder, dysthymic disorder, and oppositional disorder children of a similar age."

    That is the scientists definition of 'high functioning,' 'nonretarded autistic' where that term is being used in it's origioning medical sence of 'score in a retarded range on standardized IQ tests.'

    Or consider the definition used in "Visual memory processes in high-functioning individuals with autism":

    "Sixteen high-functioning autistic individuals participated in the study. They were separately diagnosed by a psychiatrist and a psychologist according to the full diagnostic criteria for infantile autism described in the DSM III (1980). The diagnoses included face-to-face interviews, review of medical records, and interview with parents. Both diagnosticians had to agree that autism was the primary diagnosis. No person was included who had a seizure disorder, cerebral palsy, or other secondary pathologies. All of these individuals had a Full-scale IQ of 68 or above on the Wechsler intelligence scales (range 68-108, ~-= 83, SD = 14). Their mean Performance IQ was 91 (range 71-112, SD = 13). Their mean Verbal IQ was 81 (range 54-111, SD = 16)."

    High functioning in the context of autism has always been high inteligence, usually as messured by IQ.

Reply
  • in reply to Bunny

    sigh here we go again. Ok I'm using this search for academic papers before 1990 as a refrence. These are some of the earlyest academic papers I could find that use the term 'high functioning.'

    This one "A study of intellectual abilities in high-functioning people with autism" is particularly telling and I will quote it here

    "We separately compared an independent population of nonretarded autistic children to groups of receptive developmental language disorder, dysthymic disorder, and oppositional disorder children of a similar age."

    That is the scientists definition of 'high functioning,' 'nonretarded autistic' where that term is being used in it's origioning medical sence of 'score in a retarded range on standardized IQ tests.'

    Or consider the definition used in "Visual memory processes in high-functioning individuals with autism":

    "Sixteen high-functioning autistic individuals participated in the study. They were separately diagnosed by a psychiatrist and a psychologist according to the full diagnostic criteria for infantile autism described in the DSM III (1980). The diagnoses included face-to-face interviews, review of medical records, and interview with parents. Both diagnosticians had to agree that autism was the primary diagnosis. No person was included who had a seizure disorder, cerebral palsy, or other secondary pathologies. All of these individuals had a Full-scale IQ of 68 or above on the Wechsler intelligence scales (range 68-108, ~-= 83, SD = 14). Their mean Performance IQ was 91 (range 71-112, SD = 13). Their mean Verbal IQ was 81 (range 54-111, SD = 16)."

    High functioning in the context of autism has always been high inteligence, usually as messured by IQ.

Children
  • in reply to Bunny

    I had a feeling you might say that. So please take a look at this search of recent academic papers using the term 'high functioning.'

    The paper "Measuring Social Camouflaging in Individuals with High Functioning Autism: A Literature Review" defines high functioning ASD as "ASD without intellectual disabilities."

    The paper "Classification of low-functioning and high-functioning autism using task-based EEG signals" defines high functioning autism in this way:

    "High-functioning autistic children have average or above-average Intelligent Quotient IQ > 80 whereas low-functioning autistic children have IQ < 80 accompanied by marked linguistic and intellectual disabilities [7]"

    High functioning autism is used by the academic community to mean autism with normal / high IQ. If you are and others are using the term otherwise you are using it in a technically incorrect way. It's true high functioning has never been a clinical term ... but it is an academic one.

  • in reply to Peter

    You're out of date with the terminology's meaning, I'm afraid. Also, HFA has never been an official diagnostic term, only an informal one.