Do You Think High and Low-functioning Should Be Used?

I prefer to use autism or ASD because I believe high and low-functioning autism creates a false perception of The Autism Spectrum. To me and I imagine many others, low-functioning and high-functioning create the image of a horizontal line with one side saying "most autistic" and the other side saying "least autistic", especially since I hear people say "end of the spectrum." 

I see The Autism Spectrum as more of a circle divided with each section representing a difficulty, with the individual in the centre having a variation of difficulties with differing levels of severity to one another. Like someone described as low-functioning may be able to walk through shops with no oversensitivity while someone described as high-functioning can have a higher level of severity in sensory processing that it's too hard and not be able to.

Do you think we should avoid the use of high and low-functioning as they're not clinical terms anyway?

Parents
  • I don’t think the terms high functioning and low functioning should be used because they can cause offence and are only accurate descriptors of how autistic people present to neurotypicals (mask). 

    Also because autism is a form of neurodivergence, it affects everything and is contextual. This means that supports needs are very variable and change all the time, so the term autistic should just be used. Functioning labels are offensive, too simplistic and are only easy for neurotypical people to use.. Autism is not a linear spectrum.

Reply
  • I don’t think the terms high functioning and low functioning should be used because they can cause offence and are only accurate descriptors of how autistic people present to neurotypicals (mask). 

    Also because autism is a form of neurodivergence, it affects everything and is contextual. This means that supports needs are very variable and change all the time, so the term autistic should just be used. Functioning labels are offensive, too simplistic and are only easy for neurotypical people to use.. Autism is not a linear spectrum.

Children