Published on 12, July, 2020
...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.
When my autism is high functioning, I am not. Times when I cannot face making a necessary phone call, when I cannot get a packet of frozen peas back in the freezer, and break the drawer in a fit of rage, or when I'm on a crowded street and want to lash out at the people near me to get a little space. Wow! Then my autism is functioning at a very high level..
Martin
What a great way of explaining, those 3 examples are things that happen to me often. It takes all my power sometimes to not act on those feelings and again the cost is high.