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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.

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  • I've been reluctant to comment on this as I'm hardly an expert on Autism,  I'm not sure how you would class high functioning,  I don't think it is to do much with IQ.  I have an IQ of 134 but I needed extra help at primary school when i was about 9 years old to help me to learn to read and write.  I left school at 16 with no qualifications.   I had to go back to college in my mid 20's to get an education yet i dropped out of university because i couldn't cope with my life at the time.  I've never held a job down for longer than 2 years.   I think i can pretty much pass as a normal person in the world. I  look normal on the outside but underneath there is madness lurking which i try to hide to the best of my ability lol,  I think people just perceive me as being a little quicky, shy and sometimes Aloof. 

    I get social anxiety , depression, I have no close friends,  Life has been a battle to get through.  I've been in a very stable relationship for the last 16 years which has helped me cope.  My partner has propped my up through my bad times,  I consider myself very lucky.  I am sure i would of been homeless by now if I hadn't of met her.  Before that all my past relationships never lasted longer than 2 years, they were all disasters.  I relate to everyone so much on this site.  I have spent 55 years trying to work out what was wrong with me and now I realize I'm Autistic.  I struggling a lot at the moment,  i spent all day in bed yesterday dwelling on the past I think if i had known what i know now  when i was 20 I could of avoided a lot of bad situations I have found myself in.  I know there is no cure for this but i think I would of suffered less if I had known. 

  • in reply to Moonshadow
    Moonshadow said:
    I have an IQ of 134 but I needed extra help at primary school when i was about 9 years old to help me to learn to read and write.  I left school at 16 with no qualifications

    Are you dyslexic? School age academic achievement  has more to do with executive functioning, something those of us on the spectrum can struggle with, than IQ.

  • in reply to Deleted User

    I would presume that i am,  If I am not i am truely doomed. I plan to go for a doctors assessment.  I can't give eye contact, i struggle to  socialize,  i used to stim with cigarette lighters now i've stopped smoking i stim with pound coins or remote controls. I stim with beer mats when im in a pub.  I pace around the house for hours when I'm extremely stressed although i have not been bad enough to pace for a couple of years. I didn't even know what stimming was until i joined this forum.   I don't like certain noises , like cats meowing or dogs barking there are alot of traits I seem to have that autistic people have. 

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  • in reply to Deleted User

    I would presume that i am,  If I am not i am truely doomed. I plan to go for a doctors assessment.  I can't give eye contact, i struggle to  socialize,  i used to stim with cigarette lighters now i've stopped smoking i stim with pound coins or remote controls. I stim with beer mats when im in a pub.  I pace around the house for hours when I'm extremely stressed although i have not been bad enough to pace for a couple of years. I didn't even know what stimming was until i joined this forum.   I don't like certain noises , like cats meowing or dogs barking there are alot of traits I seem to have that autistic people have. 

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