do you feel 'high-functioning'?

Post Reply New Topic

i don't.
i feel like i'm less socially capable and confident than i think the majority of aspies and in a lot of ways more dumb and immature, especially when i was in my teens.
i think the binary low/high-functioning dichotomy is ill-conceived.
it is a 'spectrum' disorder after all, so surely there's room for people in the middle of the two.
a lot of aspies seem like pseudo-NTs from where i stand, slightly quirky with above average IQ, and able to function properly in society with general ease (sheldon cooper would be a good example - though a fictitious character i'm pretty sure he's an accurate representation of a lot of aspies, in fact a lot seem more normal than him even).
maybe i'm getting something wrong though, let me know what you think.

Define functioning.

Personally my ability to function greatly depends on the task, I have developed a odd sense of self confidence in which I am pretty confident in most areas but communication. I think struggles depend on an individual case by case bases. For the record I do not feel highly functioning at all , less now then before and when I asked those that know my IQ what my IQ was, they didn't tell me least I become "arrogant" if it was high or "depressed" if it was low. So I took that to mean its low lol. I don't think its a good idea to buy into labels but I admit I do it myself. I am limited in quite a few ways but I think its probably healthier to focus on what you can do and not what you can't.

"Sheldon Cooper" has a large support group. I tell my counsellor that to understand the show, you have to understand California rentals - Sheldon has the lease. However, his mother is also always ready and willing to help. My own functioning mostly depends on my luck with finding at least one person who wants to work with me on a project. They might take on more of the public interface duties, or just provide a good example to imitate, with warnings about situations where logic won't prevail.

Had no idea I was autistic when I was younger.
In fact, I might have been offended if somebody had suggested that I was.
Have always been fond of the term "eccentric."
Am I normal?
Not so much ...
Can I relate to Sheldon?
From what little I've seen, big time!
And I've got the Star Trek stuff to prove it!
Does being autistic have both strengths and weaknesses?
Yes, but then, so does being human.
Am I human? .....
... Well, here I am, on Wrong Planet ...

a high-functioning person is the captain of his/her life. he or she is a free agent with an effective internal locus of control [as shrinks and social workers will say] and is not cognitively addled in any way. a high-functioning person is in the upper half of Maslow's pyramid of self-actualization and never has to worry about lower level survival. a high-functioning person can mesh with other people in a mostly seamless and undramatic way, without much effort. a high-functioning person thrives on stressful challenges and usually comes out on top. a high-functioning person will as a matter of course have no troubles with finances and in attracting mates and never have to worry about the lack thereof. a high-functioning person organically functions at a high level within his/her society.
based on that measuring stick, I fall short. but to keep things in perspective, so do probably [at least] half the population. IOW most of us struggle to a variable extent.

I don't know about high functioning but I am functioning though....only because I have made difficult choices....which means I have lowered my expectations to match my limitations and abilities....you said your immature... Then you should base your life on how immature you feel...

if I based my life on how immature I am, i'd be homeless.

You don't seem immature to me...all I'm saying is he should get back to school where he left and grow up from there....

^^^thank you if you saw me up close you would see it quickly. anyways, the OP needs to know that he is not the only one struggling. I hope he can concentrate at least in the near term, in solidifying his job-catching prospects first, as without financial security there is nothing else to be gotten from this life unless one is a monk, which is its own kinda financial security.

@ OP Immaturity doesn't necessarily mean stagnation....you are just moving at slower pace than everybody else...

Immaturity isn't all bad. Slow and incomplete maturity is one of the big differences between humans and chimps. Maybe you can be mature where it matters, and play a lot to relax. A sage once advised that to enjoy a vacation, one should adopt a mental age just sufficient to make the travel connections.

Not at all. I feel years behind even the dumbest neurotypical. I am a teenager and I am a constant display of academic retardation and social stupidity. I am an embarrassment to everyone I know and I find myself repulsed by what I have allowed myself to become. A withered narcissistic ass who is incapable of pulling my own weight and contributing to myself, my family, or my country. I am just a drain. I know that many people with autistic spectrum are like this, and if their condition is any similar to mine, I applaud them for their hard work, I've just simply given up and I feel like complete and utter crap and I know it. I don't want any help, thank you, I just want independence and freedom from this degenerated educational system.