I feel like I have ASD Level 3.

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I feel like I have ASD Level 3, even though I am independent most of the time, but have severe problems with social-emotional respiratory, I can barely communicate besides using greeting words.

I have better social skills, but have severe problems with social-emotional respiratory and only relate to people with my interest.

It's annoying!

very frustrating! Do you think this is like a skill that you could learn? I had to practice a lot to be able to talk to others about anything at all. I was so frightened to even try. Practicing made it easier over time.

It's not impossible to develop this skill, but it's more difficult with ASD.

ASD level 3 is characterized by severe challenges in social communication as well as extremely inflexible behavior. Children with level 3 autism will be nonverbal or have the use of only a few words of intelligible speech. Initiation of social interaction is very limited, as well as response to others. An individual at this level may interact with others abnormally, and only to meet immediate needs.

Individuals with level 3 autism exhibit marked inflexibility of behavior, with extreme difficulty coping with changes to routine. At this level, restrictive or repetitive behaviors interfere with the individual’s ability to function. Changing focus from one activity to another may come at great difficulty and cause significant distress.

I feel like I have some elements of ASD level 3, in the context of social-emotional respiratory, but I am independent most of the time.

Can you try to ask someone a question every day and you can file away the answer.

So for an example when you buy a coffee, you can ask the coffee person "has it been busy today?"..hear their answer and walk away.

The next day you can ask someone else a question when you buy something like "how has your day been?" They might respond with good how about yours and you can say "yeah not bad".

Make it your goal to ask the question everyday until asking a question becomes the norm for you.

Once you have become good at asking "How has your day been" and expecting "good how about yours", you can think about ways you can expand on that like "yeah not bad, but I wish it was warmer outside" or something else.

Small steps.

I am NT(apparently), and I had to teach myself social skills. I had no social skills and to this day I find small talk boring but I can force myself and be decent at it. The more you do it, the more you practise the better you get and as long as you are taking baby steps its doable.

If you aren't on the asking questions stage yet, start by making eye contact and smiling intentionally like when you are buying something and someone greets you.. use that to build to simple social questions.

I could do that.

If you were "level 3," it's at least somewhat likely that you wouldn't have the cognition to wonder, in writing, whether you are "level 3."

It is true that there are people who might be, for the most part, "level 3," but have this cognition and are able to type and express their thoughts.

But one who is "level 3" would likely have to have at least one other person who is around one 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One would need a considerable amount of assistance in such things as toileting, getting dressed, "activities of daily living" skills in general.

Now that makes more sense. Thank you!

Level 3 doesn't affect a person's IQ or their ability to think, write, or toilet.

Toileting isn't mentioned at all in ASD descriptors of the DSM:

That is what I meant to say, I feel like I used to have ASD level 3, in the context of social emotional reciprocity only, but have neurotypical social skills.

It’s not mentioned in the DSM—but I stand by what I said.

People who are severely autistic frequently have problems with “activities of daily living.”

This is an example of “needing substantial support.”

Speak to somebody who works with severely autistic people.

There are autistic folks who have difficulty with such things as toileting. That is a fact. I’m not trying to denigrate autistic people when I say this.

Autism runs the gamut.

Right - you've said many times that you have NT social skills.
Your thread title says that you think you are Level 3 (presumably, now).

@KK,
Yes of course there are people with those challenges, but they are attributed to comorbid conditions like low IQ etc.
They aren't in the diagnostic criteria and that's all I was trying to say.

That makes sense. Thank you!

I'm Level 2 and I have many L3 sub scores.

I don't think ASD Level of support is accurate to me, because now my symptoms of ASD looks like ASD level 2 and now 3, because I have serious mental health crisis related to Bipolar Disorder, but to a milder degree.

I also learned another social skills to deal with police that are not trained to handle people with serious mental health crisis, as a back up, so it wont go down to hot water caused by so much confusion.

This is what I do:

That is because I don't want to scare the police officer if I showed abnormal and intense repetitive behaviors and obvious mood changes related to Bipolar Disorder.

This is what I did, I mask all of those behaviors and do poker face, and seep out all the symptoms of Bipolar Disorder I suffer from by making lists clinical symptoms I meet the related diagnostic criteria for Bipolar Disorder.

At first the police officer kept speaking too loud without meaning to, and I seeped out sensory issues I had and told him to talk more quietly, he did and tried his best to talk more quietly, and sometimes he talks too loud, but I don't mind it, because he reminded himself to speak more quietly. it went very well.

I wanted to explain why my interaction with the police is actually not that bad actually. I just need to use my social skills appropriately and do what the officer says for my safety and theirs.