i have moderate autism.

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yeah it turns out i have moderate autism.

ill need lvl 2 support.


anyone else have moderate autism?
whats it like tbh?

l edit: looks like this is a sign of the guardian angel thats coming for me.

I am level 2. I'm independent to a degree but still have to be looked after a lot.

What?

I don't know what level 2 means.

I do not yet have a diagnosis of level, as I was diagnosed in the DSM 4 with Aspergers and got more severe from puberty. However, I suspect I am right between one and two as I seem to do a bit better than level two in the descriptions I have seen, and worse than level one.

https://nspt4kids.com/healthtopics-and-conditions-database/autism/

I stim nearly constantly, and rather obviously.

The level of distress when dealing with change or changing focus depends on the day, and can very a lot. I have trouble with sudden change but can handle longer planned out change. I have a few odd things I tend to need to do to keep calm like leaving a place or school at exactly the planned time. I have more trouble changing focus and can get very stressed if I have to before I am ready.

I don't entirely know what it means by Inflexibility of behavior.

I have some trouble with self care skills.

I have minor communication issues, but can perseverate for hours on hours and if stressed can stop being able to talk at all. I've been known to studder at times, and can have trouble understanding speech.

I have a degree of face blindness.

I have rather intense sensory processing issues.

I have a lot of trouble with executive functioning, and problems with memory recall.

Socially, I need people to be very direct, for instance when making friends I need both of us to agree to being friends. I will initiate social interactions with family, but generally not outside of that. I've been working on it however, and have another autistic friend I've planned outings with and have started the conversation. However unless I'm badly perseverating i have strong anxiety at doing this, and even get frazzled when a stranger says hi.

This is with supports and it has been suggested before to get extra help in the home, but I'm against it. How well I do depends a lot on the day and my anxiety in general. I am determined to live on my own, but that will not be easy for me.

I don't make eye contact. I can fake rather well, but get tired of it. I get tired of making facial expressions and tend not to know when it is my turn to speak.

I also have:
Dyspraxia (Moderate to severe fine motor delay and mild gross motor delay, slight balance issues)
ODD
Anxiety issues
essential tremor
Some kind of learning disability but is undiagnosed, including a horrible time with math, of which I am very behind in.

People who are level 2 or moderate are diagnosed autistic in early childhood. Unlike level 3 severe, a level 2 person is usually verbal, does not have intellectual disability, is more responsive and interactive and can look after themselves to a degree, but still need significant support. Some level 2 people start out as level 3 severe, but then finally develop into the level 2 category.

Does anyone know if there are any people who start out as level one and end up level two over time?

To be honest, I have found that it usually is the other way around.

I guess this could happen----but I would say it's a rare occurrence.

I was probably a Level 3 autistic person when I was a young toddler. Somehow, I know not why or how, I became Level One around the age of 5.

Ezra went from Level 3 to Level 2.

Autism is a developmental rather than degenerative disorder. When you think of it, everyone starts out as an infant needing very substantial support. In my case I had a very delayed and limited development where I finally spiked at around 8, but it only went so far.

I think in my case, I have other issues that make me degenerative in ways. But I am also discovering that I am probably more severely Autistic than I remember being as a kid, only because my stresses are so much more now. We are always as Autistic as our most severe moments are, it's just that if we are not stressed, it does not always show.

I wonder if I do, but can autism severity be reliably measured/decided yet?

Who is supposed to tell us what level we're at anyways? No one told me what level I was at when I was diagnosed.

There are definitely things that make autism worse. Also things like executive dysfunction might be dormant and then start getting bad.

Were you diagnosed before 2013?

that makes a lot of sense.