#high functioning label

[la-esmerqlda]

I would like to thank Elon Musk for breaking the stereotype that “high functioning” autistic people are geniuses, because he’s genuinely so fucking dumb I can hardly even fathom it.

#Elon musk #twitter #x #autism #autistic #actually autistic #yes I am autistic #why the fuck is he renaming the site #every decision he makes has me cackling #if he’s a genius then I must be omnipotent #love him breaking the autism stereotypes #I don’t like functioning labels but I feel like he calls himself high functioning

[stealingfromwoolworths]

Currently waiting for people to realise that yes, the autistic teens, kids, adults and elders who are always swarmed by aids, cannot speak, lash out, have limited speech, act “dumb”, run away into dangerous places (eg. Roads, pools ect.) when overwhelmed, are similar to the autistic stereotype or in general don’t act in a “civilised manner”

Have access to the internet

They are on tumblr

We are on tumblr

And we don’t appreciate being your punching bag, being excluded from conversations about accessibility, or used as a tool by high functioning autistics who want to say “oh look at me I’m not like the autistics who bite people or make weird sounds in public or need support, I’m just unique and have fun interests.”

We are real people and we are smarter then you think.

Edit: thanks to the people who pointed out that smart wasn’t the right word! So I’m going to add this: the opinions of me, a low functioning autistic who has the privilege to be able to write coherently and communicate my opinions and views in two different languages, holds the exact same weight as someone who cannot do any of those things and in fact sometimes it’s their opinion and views that matter more. The opinion of “smart” autistics matters just as much as the opinion of “non smart” autistics and people you would consider dumb. Lower functioning autistics who are not conventionally or, at all, “smart” are just as human, important and valuable and deserve to have their opinions taken into consideration just as much as I do writing this. You don’t loose your value as a human or as a disabled person when you aren’t smart.

#actually autistic #autism #disabled #mentally disabled #don’t come at me for using functioning labels I am low functioning #in fact I am barely functioning #disability #high support needs

[zebulontheplanet]

“I don’t like the terms high support needs and low support needs because they just remind me of functioning labels”

You realize that it’s not bad for someone to need more support then you, right? You realize that people needing more or less support than you is a thing, right? You realize that maybe we still need labels to get the point across and build community within a community, right?

You realize that the lives of higher support needs people and lower support needs people are different so they need something to connect with eachother, right?

If you don’t and still think that…then maybe you need to work on yourself.

#zebrambles #functioning labels #support needs #high support needs #medium support needs #low support needs #discourse #kinda upset that people don’t realize this. its really just that simple.

[astraltrickster]

I want to introduce a disability concept that I've been calling paradoxical stigma.

What is paradoxical stigma? It's the stigma against:

1) The actually disabling traits of a disability that's in the spotlight for the parts of it that are convenient to accommodate, and/or

2) The diagnosis of such a disability itself,

Due to the assumption that the spotlight renders it "destigmatized" and no longer in need of support.

As of right now, at least around this corner of the internet, the most obvious examples of this are autism and ADHD. It's become disturbingly common for people to treat those like Diet Disabilities That Don't Actually Count. It's been really interesting to watch the popular attitude about these disorders shift from "autism is either a tragedy or an excuse depending on 'severity', and ADHD is just a myth used to drug kids into complicity instead of teaching them actual skills", to "actually these are real disorders that affect people in all aspects of their lives", to "I GUESS they're real disorders but honestly EVERYONE has them can't we worry about more SERIOUS ones?" and...not in a good way.

It comes up...partially as a legitimate backlash to people with these disorders who think that invisible disability and/or neurodivergence begins and ends at their experience, and...yeah, that's a problem all right, in fact if I had a dollar for every asshole who looked at my struggles with things like keeping my space clean or not fucking up my medication doses DUE TO ADHD and went "well I have the same diagnosis and I don't have THAT problem to THAT extent, obviously you're just lazy and careless", or saw me having an AUTISTIC meltdown and called it "bullying" or worse because I get loud and insisted that I NEED to CONTROL that CHOSEN BEHAVIOR if I want to not be a Bad Person, or heard about how AUTISTIC overstimulation defense measures play into my trouble with cleaning and insisted that well THEY'RE autistic too and don't have that specific problem so this is clearly weaponized helplessness because I just don't WANT to learn to do better, I'd...probably have a lot more assistive tech. I also get really, really frustrated and upset when people use RSD to mean "if you ever criticize me that's the height of ableism, no matter how much I'm actually fucking up and hurting you" - especially since it's so often invoked as a defense against being lightly criticized for ACTUALLY harmful behavior and as much as it sucks there IS no substitute to make that more emotional-dysregulation-friendly beyond basic kindness in criticism. That attitude exists. It's bad.

And yet, theoretically, I think we could all agree that the response to that should NEVER be to reinvent the old "ugh, those aren't REAL disabilities, those are just EXCUSES that LAZY PARENTS make for kids being kids, what they need is DISCIPLINE" stereotype of the 90s-2000s, just now aimed at those same kids as adults, in ostensibly supportive spaces - or arguably worse, to revert all our understanding of support needs to the externally judged high-functioning/low-functioning dichotomy.

What really sets this apart as paradoxical stigma, rather than just garden-variety lateral ableism, is that 1) we CAN theoretically all agree that reinventing those stereotypes is a terrible response, yet many people do it anyway, and 2) these stereotypes are invoked not only because of that intracommunity misbehavior, but both within and outside of disabled spaces, because of the illusion that you can bring up those disorders and have them taken seriously because fidget toys and stim videos and weighted blankets are popular now. An event having quiet rooms, or backlash to Autism Speaks being visible outside of autistic spaces, will be taken as "proof" that autism stigma is over forever and anyone who complains about it is just a whiner who doesn't know how good they have it...even when what they're complaining about is, say, being barred from migration. Paradoxical stigma is enacted by people who think that they, alone, are standing up against someone who's throwing others under the bus to continue to progress their own limited agenda...when in fact they're speaking a very popular shitty opinion, that MANY of the people making that claim would disagree with HEAVILY once separated from the "crab bucket reflex".

As a personal example, the result is that when I'm looking for assistance, I'm...hesitant to bring up those diagnoses, because I know I'm going to be written off as "obviously a high-functioning low-support needs scammer who just doesn't WANT to CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETY and EARN things" - even by people who otherwise agree that people should be allowed to survive even if they truly are the living strawman lazy bum who has nothing wrong with them but just WANTS to lay around eating junk food and doing drugs all day, AND that disability deserves to be respected, isn't black-and-white, and affects everyone differently; somehow when these combine in the context of my diagnoses that have had a very sanitized version of themselves "destigmatized" on TikTok, they cancel out into blatant reactionary sentiment indistinguishable from what I'd hear from my shitty token Republican uncle.

So, that's paradoxical stigma. Feel free to use the term if you find it useful.

#disability #serious tag #and yes it is applicable to issues other than disability #if youre seeing parallels to this in how same-sex marriage passing nationwide in the us #was the beginning of a big downswing in support for queer rights because what ELSE could these entitled freaks POSSIBLY want #you are correct! they are VERY closely related! not quite identical because it wasnt almost equally intense within the community as outside #but i wouldnt call you wrong if you wanted to use the same term! #speaking of bringing back the high-functioning/low-functioning dichotomy - it is NOT lost on me #just how many people dont take me seriously as a Real Autist because im usually ''well-spoken'' #therefore i CLEARLY cant have support needs that are hard to aestheticize right??? #as if that kind of misconception isnt EXACTLY WHY we moved away from functioning labels in favor of discussing support needs

[clownrecess]

(TW functioning labels, ableism, meltdowns, doctors, etc.)

I was diagnosed as autistic when I was 10, and I was more specifically diagnosed with "High functioning autism". The person my psychiatrist saw was me on easy days, on days when I was fully calm, on days when I could easily communicate, and had no other job than to sit and do what she told me to do.

She hadn't seen me go fully mute for months on end, she hadn't seen me fully unable to take care of my basic needs, she hadn't seen me have violent meltdowns, she hadn't seen me hit and bite myself because I couldn't identify my emotions, she hadn't seen me run into the street because I have nothing in my brain telling me not to, she hadn't seen me unable to change clothes for multiple days, she hadn't seen me only able to shower once a week, she hadn't seen me unable to properly exist in gened, she hadn't seen me have severe meltdowns over a change I liked just because I didnt expect it, she hadn't seen me put a small hole in a wall during a meltdown, she hadn't seen me as a full time AAC user, she hadn't seen me as a part time AAC user, she hadn't seen me unable to sleep without an intensely large amount of nightlights, she hadn't seen me unable to bathe myself until age 9 or 10, etc.

She saw me in a calm state, once every few months, on days when I could communicate easily and do what she asked. That is all she saw of me, her asking me questions, having me do things, and asking my mom questions.

If she saw me, and I was the way I described in front of her, my diagnosis would probably be closer to something like "moderate functioning autism".

But here's the thing, ON DIFFERENT DAYS, I FIT DIFFERENT CRITERIA FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF AUTISM DIAGNOSES.

My ability to "Function" varies so so much, and this makes functioning labels extremely inaccurate.

Now, let's use support needs to describe me. I am a person who's support needs fluctuate from med-high. I have med-high support needs. This is accurate for me, and it is not ableist.

I wanted to talk about this to describe how functioning labels suck, and also to talk about how support needs fluctuate; and that is okay.

#hsn autistic #actually autistic #neurodivergent #aac user #nonspeaking autistic #tw ableism #tw meltdown #tw functioning labels #tw doctors #autism #aac device #nonspeaking #aac users #situationally nonspeaking #disabled #med to high support needs #fuck functioning labels #aac #actually mute #actually nonverbal #actually nonspeaking

[neuroticboyfriend]

i am mentally ill and there is nothing morally wrong with that. none of the words for marginalized experiences are free of connection to bigotry. i am allowed to use the terms that i feel fit my experience best, because it is MY life. no one else's.

you can call yourself whatever the fuck you want, too. mentally ill. disordered. chronically ill. disabled. neurodivergent. a spoonie. crazy. insane. mad. etc. etc. you can use diagnostic labels and symptom terminology. you can call things traits instead. you can use functioning labels, support needs labels, masking labels, etc.

it is YOUR bodymind. what matters most is that your experiences are expressed in ways that are helpful to you, not whether it's what someone else would use for themself.

#softspoonie #neurodivergent #mentally ill #mental illness #neurodivergency #neuodivergence #chronically ill #madpunk #disabled #disability #neuropunk #functioning labels #support needs #low functioning #high functioning #high support needs #low support needs #medium support needs #high masking #low masking #chronic illness

[foggyroseblood]

I don't remember who said it but whoever suggested to use "high masking" and "low masking" instead of low and high functioning i love you so much. Its the only words I feel really work for me. I was diagnosed with "high functioning autism/aspergers" which the 1st one just didnt fit me i felt bc it just isnt true and the 2nd word has nazi history so um no thanks. Lots of people use low and high support needs now but those don't work for me either. Like i would be considered low support needs i guess but I do need lots of support with daily things i definitely do not have low support needs if i take the definition litterally. I am high masking.

High masking suggets that i look like i am high functioning and okay although i am not and that's very validating

#autism #autistic #function labels #neurodivergent #adhd #asd #autism spectrum disorder #high functioning autism #neurodiversity #mental health #autismawareness #masking #mentalheathawareness #low support needs #high support needs #actullyautistic #disabled

[alphashley14]

I attempted to ask my parents if I could go to therapy last night because I suspect that I may have undiagnosed ADHD.

My Dad scoffed, as if annoyed, and said “If anyone has difficulty doing anything nowadays it’s because of some mental something or other.”

- Says the man who I’ve suspected for years to be an undiagnosed autistic or other sort of neurodivergent. (Not that I’d ever say that aloud because God forbid.)

And I was so stunned and hurt that I all of my points/arguments left my brain.

Just- imagine being so close yet so far away from the POINT.

And my Mom was hardly any better. She shut me down by saying how “everyone struggles to focus on things they’re not interested in,” and “Well that’s part of your Asperger’s!”

… This is exactly why I’ve grown to HATE being a so-called “high functioning” autistic person. Any time I bring up wanting to go to therapy for unrelated issues it gets either brushed off or forgotten about because I’m “high functioning” and I don’t externalize my mental health symptoms like my sibling does (and therefore it isn’t an embarrassment or inconvenience) so it isn’t an issue and I must be fine.

Maybe I should just explode. Drink. Smoke something. Scream. Break some shit. Let my grades drop. THEN could I get some therapy? (Not that I would ever actually do any of that but sometimes I feel like that’s what it would take for my parents to take me seriously when I say I’m not ok.)

-Anyway. Just figured if anywhere would have people who understand this experience, it would be on Tumblr.

#neurodivergent #high functioning autism #autism #aspergers #autistic #autistic adult #actually autistic #autistic artist #undiagnosed adhd #? #istg I hate the ‘high functioning’ label so much. #it isn’t real and all it does is block people from getting help #Also just a disclaimer: I’m 20 soon to be 21 but only work part time #and am living with my parents while in college #and I’m on my family’s healthcare plan insurance wise #so I’m still super reliant on my parents financially and that’s why I asked THEM about therapy instead of arranging it myself.

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

fully personal opinion

see many autistic people online treat someone calling self “high functioning” as a red flag, and some view it more extremely as irredeemable and make immediate assumption about person.

and i don’t… fully agree?

like of course see where they come from. there definitely are autistic people who identify as “high functioning” (high functioning autism, HFA) or “aspie” to separate self from the other autistics because they look down on other autistics. others may even believe HFA is this new evolutionary goal and people with HFA and only high functioning autism is better than everyone else, allistics included. they are yucky.

i carefully curate n select my internet experience because know if get mad, won’t be able to step away. so i don’t see these people much at all online. also because of dominant views in online autism community, these aspie supremacy HFA people don’t really participate in online actually autistic community.

but the reason i say i dont fully agree is because….

for so long me as a higher support needs level 2/3 austistuc and my friends who are similar or have more support needs as me & may be labeled “low functioning”, we been spoken over in online autistic community. dominant view of autism in online actually autistic community say every autistic all the same just mask differently or stuff like that. can look at my other posts for more context.

so, i really do appreciate when… how to say… an autistic respond to my posts say “i’m high functioning and i agree/thank you for bringing light to issue/etc etc.”

like. call themself as “high functioning” to, yes, separate themselves from me, not in the “im better than you i worth more than you”, but in the way of “i acknowledge me being/being seen as high functioning means i have different experiences than you, and on higher support needs/level2 3/low functioning issues i don’t have the lived experience and i need to listen.”

like i fully appreciate the latter, you know?

it’s also okay to say like. “while i don’t identify as high functioning, i do acknowledge i am often seen as high functioning, and that means i get treated better than those called low functioning.”

anticipate some people will say “well there still are better terms out there, like low support needs.” and the thing is, high functioning, levels, and support needs may all be trying to describe similar things, but they don’t neatly translate to each other. they don’t exactly mean same thing. “high functioning” doesn’t necessarily always mean low support needs.

and it not my place to tell other people how to self identify!

also because, i do like functioning labels when voluntarily used as self descriptor.

so, TLDR, i do oppose professionals & other people forcibly labeling autistics with functioning labels, i do hate those aspie supremacist high functioning autistics. but i think there is more nuance (always more nuance) to the “call self high functioning = bad” conversation. sometimes really do appreciate when someone self describe use “high functioning” to note difference in autistic experiences.

idk just personal thoughts. idk make sense.

#actually autistic #actuallyautistic #high functioning #functioning labels #autistic #autism #nd #asd #loaf screm

[angelshizuka]

I'm not a parent at all, but besides that I relate to Lucifer in basically every way.

He's the most perfect example of depressed while neurodivergent (personally headcanon him as AuDHD) and trying so hard to be "high functioning" while in reality you're falling apart inside character I've ever seen in any medium.

Depressed neurodivergent characters my beloved!

#(i hate the high and low functioning labels that's why I put it in quotation marks) #actuallyautistic #actuallyadhd #actuallyaudhd #actually autistic #actually adhd #actually audhd #autism #adhd #audhd #neurodivergent #depression #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel lucifer #hazbin lucifer #lucifer morningstar #lucifer magne #personal

[hideawaysis]

i fucking hate how autism advocacy is so largely populated by late-diagnosed high-functioning autistics that forget that some people can't mask because you get takes like fuckingnfjdjdj "stop using functioning labels they're ableist" (they're not saying you're low/high-functioning is a neutral fucking statement just like saying ur disabled is) or god forbid fucking "well actually autism doesn't inhibit people that much and people like the stereotypes don't really exist" fuuuuuck you i AM the stereotypes, i use diapers as a disability aid and struggle to take care of myself without help, my "job" can barely be considered a job because anything else exhausts me too easily or i fail to understand it, i almost didn't fjcking pass high school, the only thing keeping you from immediately branding me as what i am (severely disabled) is the fact that i can type coherently fuck yoooouuuu. like i get it you all want rights i want rights to!! but the shit that you say in an attempt to get rights for yourself makes it so much less fucking likely for people like ME to get rights too. you're not taking a step forward by ignoring the fact that we exist you're just taking twenty fuckin steps back for god's sake

#hideawaysisposting #this isnt to say all high-functioning late-diagnosed autistics are like thos #im not really generalizing here because its obviously more nuanced than just like #oh clearly everyone in this group is like this #thats just prejudice #but like godddd #i have seen so many takes like this coming from those kinds of autists and it infuriates me #literally just saw a post like #i think we should start using low or high masking instead of functioning labels teehee #FUCK YOUUUU I LITERALLY CANT EVEN MASK AT ALL THESE DAYS #LOW MASKING MY ASSSSSSS #ughh #sorry i get super heated abt this shit #im gonna go make imaginary amvs in my head abt my ocs now

[redtail-lol]

The statements

"Functioning labels have done and continue to do harm to autistic people, especially those with higher support needs, and as such allistics should not call people by these labels, and autistic people should not call others by these labels unless they know the individual prefers them"

And

"Functioning labels have done and continue to do harm to autistic people and as such they can be reclaimed by autistic individuals to use for themselves"

AND

"Some autistic people feel that functioning labels are inaccurate for their experiences, and others feel they accurately describe the way they feel, sometimes even moreso than support needs labels."

Can all coexist

#autism #autistic #actually autistic #actually autism #functioning labels #high functioning autism #low functioning #they can be reclaimed if you identify with them #just like slurs #I don't because high functioning doesn't really describe me well #but if you identify as either I support you <3

[mugmaniscrazy]

When I was diagnosed with Autism [ high functioning Autism level 2 ASD ] at 8 years old I got all the help and support I needed as a little girl speech and language therapy , teachers helped me and my life was all sunshine and lollipops until I turned 13 I was thrown into a mainstream secondary school with no support . I mask everyday my social anxiety got so bad to the point where I had a mental breakdown at 15 and was diagnosed with depression. I got bullied and abused and traumatised for the next 3 years now I am a 18 year old Autistic adult with a personality disorder with no support whatsoever.

#autistic adult #actually autistic #actually hpd #histrionic personality disorder #actually histrionic #cluster b #ableism #hpd vent #actually autism #autism #autistic things #autistic problems #high functioning autism #functioning labels #autistic community #autistic spectrum #autistic culture #autistic children #neglected #trauma vent #ptsd recovery #asd

[clownrecess]

To fellow autistics (or like anyone else) with little to no internal sensation, this is a reminder to:

Eat

Drink some water

Go to the bathroom

#actually autistic #neurodivergent #aac user #nonspeaking autistic #autism #aac device #aac users #nonspeaking #situationally nonspeaking #disabled #self care reminder #fuck functioning labels #high support needs #mid support needs #low support needs #disability aids #i am not inspiring #sensory needs #sensory issues #sensory differences #disabled not special needs #special needs is an ableist term #aspergers is ableist #autistic and queer #autism acceptance #autistic teen

[neuroticboyfriend]

i hate how many people's idea of "high functioning" is pretty much just a neurodivergent person with ~academic potential~ who can speak. i'm autistic with adhd and childhood onset schizophrenia. i like learning. i often speak formally with more "complex" vocabulary because i was very autistic about reading. so people labeled me "high functioning" - even as i could no longer read/write for school because of cognitive impairment by schizophrenia.

but more than that, i had daily meltdowns. i was agoraphobic because i didnt know how to do "common sense" things or socialize with others; i could not go places or do anything alone. i had anxiety attacks when spoken to. i ran out of classrooms because it was too loud or i had to do group work. i stayed quiet and alone as much as possible. the world was scary and confusing, and i was being abused and neglected by everyone. so, that plus psychosis, made me suicidal.

two psych ward visits later i end up in special education. and yet. despite all that, and just getting out of the state ward... my psychologist at SpEd called me "high functioning" because i was "smart," "articulate," and (for the first time ever) "aware" i was psychotic. and i say all of this because being labeled a certain way by neurotypicals or the psychiatric system doesnt mean the label is right. ND people can be labeled "high functioning" and be severely disabled by their neurodivergency. and those people are not receiving the (high) support they need. the neglect traumatizes and further disables them.

and it's not right. it's not fair. and i wish people would stop it.

#softspoonie #disabled #disability #autistic #adhd #autism #schizospec #schizo spectrum #schizoaffective #schizophrenia #autistic spectrum #autistic problems #adhd problems #special education #special needs #<< refering to school #high functioning #high support needs #support needs #functioning labels #neurodivergency #neurodivergent #psych ward #ableism #sanism #vent #mental illness #mentally ill #abuse #trauma

[psychotic-tbh]

I saw a notification replying to a post I may have reblogged(?) but I can’t find this reply in the notes/reblogs of any recent posts for one reason or another

Either way, I just want to put this out there: I don’t support the terms “high/low functioning” as I understand its implications of “aspie supremacy” as some call it, and the perpetuation of stigma relating to neurodivergence.

(Note: I say “neurodivergence” rather than simply saying “autism” because I have seen allistic folks or folks with other neurodivergences—autistic or not—describe their conditions/neurodivergence as “high functioning”)

“High/Medium/Low Support Needs” is an excellent alternative I’ve seen, and I much prefer supporting these terms rather than “low/high functioning” labels

Anyway, I understand that I haven’t said it before, so I’m saying it now /nm

#cw: high functioning labels #high functioning labels #low functioning labels #not blog related #cw: discourse