what does very high functioning mean to you?

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Nobody ever thinks I'm "normal." They tend to think I'm, at least, "weird." If not downright "crazy."

It means i am chronically unemployed, in debt, don't fit in anywhere, don't qualify for benefits, are seen as odd when doing basic tasks, people raise their expectations too high for my abilities, lack of executive function.

"Very high-functioning" alone sounds like it could mean sub-clinical. I have good speech and writing skills, but am unable to work without specialized job training and am on disability. My IQ ability on formal IQ tests at borderline to low average. l am grateful to God too for the autism not being missed before age 18. My IQ is too high for some services, yet I need more support than trying independent living by myself.

high performance IQ sub-score as a basic.

I was diagnosed with aspergers but I would say I'm very high functioning. I have a job, I can work long hours as long as the job doesn't involve too much customer interaction, isn't fast paced or too stressful. I own a car, I live with friends instead of parents.

I can take care of my basic needs like showering and washing clothes. I can cook basic meals and pay my rent. I also have almost zero sensory issues and no longer receive any support, only from my friends. My social skills are terrible but I have learned how not to offend people. I can also pass for a quirky, shy, introverted NT and my IQ is 110. I have come a long way in life compared to how I was when I was younger.

I've gotten much better at social interaction now that I concentrate on the person I'm socializing with. NO MULTITASKING.

I was diagnosed with autism at 3, and at 13 diagnosed with AS.
But, when I was 7, I met the state lines for a child with a disability. My verbal comprehension, reading and arithmetic was below average. I had trouble communicating needs and feelings. If I wanted something to drink or eat, I’ll just point and grunt at it.

Now, today I can cook, start the shower and wash my hair (I still walk out of the shower with shampoo not washed out.). But, for social, I have trouble knowing what to say, and also how to end a conversation. I can only make eye contact with people I know and trust. Sensory, is like chaos. I tried going to the mall, which last time I went was when I was 12. From my experience, sounds echoed and felt like a stab inside the ear. Lights were like the sun directly in your eyes. That perfume shop, you’d die if you walk pass it. I was walking around, I could barley pick up my feet. I felt drained, my legs started wobbling, I became nonverbal. But yet, I’m considered high functioning.

I think that high functioning labels aren’t good. One day, I’m able to do a lot of things like going to the store, talking, eating and washing. A different day, I can’t tolerate sensory, I’m not talking as much/not talking at all, I barely eat, and sometimes going up to a month without washing, and forgetting to brush my teeth. So, some of us on the spectrum, that are considered high functioning, can have times when we are low.

Hopefully, I’ve said (Or typed.) the right words.

I am definitely autistic, because I was very much Kanner-like until the age of 5 1/2. I didn't acquire speech until age 5 1/2. I was diagnosed with autism, and other things. It was proposed that I be institutionalized.

Didn't you know that I was diagnosed with autism when I was 3, League Girl?

There are times when I can seem really autistic. It's just that the majority of people don't know very much about autism. They assume autistic people go off to a corner somewhere, and just rock all day. They don't understand that a person who can talk and socialize most of the time could have moments when they might not be able to do either.

It wasn't acceptable, in my family, to be "eccentric" or "weird." My mother, especially, would seek to knock the "eccentricity" and "weirdness" out of me.

My first "word" was actually a phrase: "I see a ball."

I spoke the phrase in a therapy room at a summer camp which, I believe, was a site for autism research. The camp was called Harrelson. I have not been able to find it on the Internet. I was 5 1/2 years old. They had both autistic kids and normal kids in the research. My brother was one of the "normal kids" who were researched.

My parents were a member of NYABIC, which stands for "New York Association for Brain-Injured Children." You can find this organization on the Internet. It has a different name now, with the acronym ANIBIC, which stands for "Association for Neurologically Impaired/Brain-injured Children." I went to their nursery school, which was for autistic kids, and other supposedly "brain-injured" kids. I believe many of the "brain-injured" kids would probably be diagnosed with either ADHD, or an ASD, should they have been assessed in the 1990s and beyond.