High-functioning VS Low-functioning Previously these terms were quite commonly used when describing someone with Autism, however the general autistic community reject this. The most common reason stated that is high and low functioning terms are often applied based on apparent observed “functioning” usually judged by professionals or carers of the person. These terms usually refer to the level of support an autistic person needs which are perceived by others rather than the actual internal experience.
An autistic person may be coping well when actually they are not. This can lead to a “higher- functioning” person not receiving the suppor they need because of high intelligence or masking. Another issue is that high and low-functioning labels “stick” and once a person is labelled as either it is difficult to convince people anything different. Autistic people prefer the terms high support or low support needs or even complex support needs with acknowledgement that support needs might fluctuate based on situation, current life events, stress and much more. Support needs are not static.
#ASDterminology #Austismandterminology#Masking #highvslowfunctioning