“Autistic” vs. “On the Spectrum”

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My mom claims I’m not autistic, but I’m on the spectrum (I’m diagnosed with ASD). But I’ve heard both used interchangeably to mean the same thing, so her use of terminology confuses me. Is it just possible she’s confusing ASD with what was previously known as autistic disorder (probably not as she considers people with Asperger’s to be autistic too), or is there an actual difference between being on the spectrum and being autistic?

No- being on the ASD spectrum means you are autistic and vice versa

Your mom probably does what a lot of people do- and thats categorize in her mind 'autistic'=not able to function in society and 'on the spectrum'=able to function in society.
Many people believe 'autistics' are those kids in the special needs class that are never going to be able to live by themselves. Easily identifiable and not a potential friend. Those same people probably dont even know that autism is a spectrum and that people on the lower end are all around them and they dont even know it. So if you were to tell them, than 'on the spectrum' would in their minds simply become 'quirky' people and not 'weird/crazy' people.

It means the same thing. You can show her this thread and tell her that.

Not everyone who is autistic has Aspergers, but everyone who has Aspergers is autistic.

To examine this, we first must remember the long form of 'on the spectrum', which is 'on the autism spectrum'. Therefore, someone who is "on the spectrum" is autistic, unless she meant you're on the visible light spectrum. [sarcasm]You're not magenta, are you?[/sarcasm]

What I am thinking she might have meant is that she suspects you might have a variety of autistic traits, but never had you diagnosed, therefore she cannot mentally justify the use of the term "autistic".

@RichardJ She did say this before I was diagnosed, so maybe you are right. In any case I understand now that "autistic" and "on the spectrum" are one and the same.

My mom does the same. I am not autistic but barely on the spectrum.

Actually I think people displaying autistic "traits" are described as possibly being on the spectrum (undiagnosed)

Yes. Either your mom is confused, or she knows better, but is playing some kind of well meaning word game.

I rarely have reason to tell folks about my aspergers diagnosis, but the few folks I have told it to -when I tell them - I assume that they don't know aspergers from a hole in the ground, but have heard of autism. So I sometimes say that I have "a mild form of autism". And if they are interested in the topic then I might go into more detail.

Do that because I assume that most folks think of "autistic" as being like the Rain Man (at best) if not being some mute child rocking back and forth in a rubber room in an institution.

Your mom probably also equates "autistic" with the above child (which IS classic "autism" of the type described by Kanner in the Fifties, before they expanded the definition of autism in later years), and like me she assumes that other folks do the same. And either she doesn't want you to feel bad, or she doesn't want you going around blabbing that you're "autistic" to folks outside the family and give strangers the wrong idea about you.

Or it could be that she is honestly confused her self- and hasn't thought it through and realized that this "Spectrum" of which she speaks IS "the Autism Spectrum".

@naturalplastic- She might just be trying to protect me from the ignorance of strangers so I don’t give them the wrong impression, as you’ve suggested, or she might be ignorant herself, I really don’t know.

I think there are multiple autistic disorders with different presentations, such as Asperger's and Kanner's. I don't like being described as "on the spectrum" because I have classic autism and I feel like it trivializes my situation. This is because I associate "on the spectrum" to mean mild autism. That's just my opinion, nothing more. Then again it is technically correct that if someone is "on the spectrum," they are, by definition, autistic.

I think it's based on peoples ignorance about autism.

'Everyone's on the spectrum' is a comment I hear a lot but I was told by a professional it's not true.

IMO on the spectrum means at one end 'enough traits for a diagnosis' the other end 'classic autism' ( or whatever the PC term is for it ).

If you have a few autistic traits but don't fit the criteria for ASD then you are not on the spectrum imo , you just have some traits ( possibly BAP ).

PC has nothing to do with the subject.

A "spectrum" is something that is spread out over a range. Like the colors of the spectrum are a range of wavelengths of light.

If you are at either end of the spectrum you are still "on the spectrum". But if its the autism spectrum, and you're on the severe end then you don't need to say that you are on "the autism spectrum", because the severe end is what most folks already associate with autism. So you just say "I am autistic".

Its folks on the high functioning end who need to spell out that they are on "the autism spectrum" (ie "I am autistic, but I am only a little wee bit autistic, and not what you think").

However...there maybe more autism awareness now than when I was diagnosed even a few years ago.

I still remember the first time I ever heard someone say to another person (not to me) "gosh, you have an ATTITUDE today". It was a convo between two coworkers at my job back in the mid Eighties. My whole life before that whenever I heard the word "attitude" the speaker always specified by preceding the word with either "good" or "bad" attitude. But this guy didn't specify. So I had to infer that he meant that she had a "bad" attitude (because she was showing that kind). So I correctly surmised that from that moment on that's gonna the hip cool way to say it. You just say "attitude", and if you don't specify which kind then it means "bad" attitude. And sure enough that's been the lingo ever since.

So in the near future, or maybe this is already the case, "on the spectrum" will become the cool way to say "on the autism spectrm" (like having "an attitude"), because a large enough number of folks will become aware of "the autism spectrum" for you to just drop the word "autism" from it. But I hope not because "on the spectrum" with out the descriptor would seem to be rather confusing. But whatever.