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 had a scientific education, and worked in mass spectrometry for a number of years, and I understand spectra as having an upper and a lower limit. When I see circular 'colour wheels' called spectra, I bridle a bit. From a strictly logical point of view, autism is either a spectrum with upper and lower limits, or it is a colour wheel, from which traits can be assigned on an individual basis. Being a scientist and autistic has drawbacks, and a pedantic obsession with logic is one of them, unfortunately.

    Having said that, I can see that although functional labels can be a useful form of 'shorthand' in describing differing abilities, they are not flexible enough to encompass all times and all situations, and an individual's functionality can vary hugely over time and is dependant on circumstances. I can be appear very functional working at a laboratory bench, operating a mass spectrometer or even giving a research talk to 20 people, but put me in a night club and I'm about as functional as a jellyfish washed up on a beach. The same goes for crowded, noisy places in general. On balance, 'functional labels' are only of very limited use and can sometimes be a barrier to treating individuals as individuals with specific needs.

  • I can be appear very functional working at a laboratory bench, operating a mass spectrometer or even giving a research talk to 20 people, but put me in a night club and I'm about as functional as a jellyfish washed up on a beach.

    Exactly - high functioning in one environment, low functioning in another.    Where does that place you on the spectrum?

  • Well, I would argue that the autistic spectrum is really a 'colour wheel' - and I think I'm probably magenta with some lime-green! Innocent

Reply Children