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Are all nonverbal Autistics severely Autistic?

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Dylanperr
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14 May 2018, 11:49 am

I want to know?



EzraS
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14 May 2018, 12:06 pm

Usually I believe. For those who who are nonverbal moderate there are probably extra factors. For me it's a combination of having started out severely autistic and also having apraxia of speech which is a neurological disability that causes problems with mouth and tongue coordination. And then a mental block kind of thing called selective mutism. That's my situation anyways. I'm not completely nonverbal, but mostly.



elbowgrease
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14 May 2018, 7:39 pm

It seems like there is some depth to the concept of nonverbal. I'm interested in other people's thoughts about the idea of what is nonverbal, exactly. It seems like there are degrees and varieties of causes and manifestations of nonverbal, and fluctuations in the way it happens or expresses with the individual experiencing it.
If that makes sense.
That's about all I can manage to write at the moment, so I'm going to stop. I'll try to expand a little bit later, maybe.



EzraS
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15 May 2018, 4:27 am

I would say in the case of nonverbal due to severe autism it is a developmental issue. When a toddler starts learning to talk the speech center of the brain is developing making connections and so on. And with severe autism that development and connections doesn't take place.



livingwithautism
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15 May 2018, 7:29 am

EzraS wrote:
Usually I believe. For those who who are nonverbal moderate there are probably extra factors. For me it's a combination of having started out severely autistic and also having apraxia of speech which is a neurological disability that causes problems with mouth and tongue coordination. And then a mental block kind of thing called selective mutism. That's my situation anyways. I'm not completely nonverbal, but mostly.


Sometimes I know exactly what I want to say, word for word, and nothing comes out except for maybe a strange sound or a stock phrase that I repeat. I'm verbally fluent, but I can't use my verbal skills conversationally.



EzraS
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15 May 2018, 7:56 am

livingwithautism wrote:
EzraS wrote:
Usually I believe. For those who who are nonverbal moderate there are probably extra factors. For me it's a combination of having started out severely autistic and also having apraxia of speech which is a neurological disability that causes problems with mouth and tongue coordination. And then a mental block kind of thing called selective mutism. That's my situation anyways. I'm not completely nonverbal, but mostly.


Sometimes I know exactly what I want to say, word for word, and nothing comes out except for maybe a strange sound or a stock phrase that I repeat. I'm verbally fluent, but I can't use my verbal skills conversationally.


I think along with the didn't develop at all is didn't develop completely or developed
incorrectly. Neurology is so complicated.

I can read words off a list. I posted a recording of me doing that a couple years ago. But conversing forget it.



livingwithautism
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15 May 2018, 8:12 am

EzraS wrote:
livingwithautism wrote:
EzraS wrote:
Usually I believe. For those who who are nonverbal moderate there are probably extra factors. For me it's a combination of having started out severely autistic and also having apraxia of speech which is a neurological disability that causes problems with mouth and tongue coordination. And then a mental block kind of thing called selective mutism. That's my situation anyways. I'm not completely nonverbal, but mostly.


Sometimes I know exactly what I want to say, word for word, and nothing comes out except for maybe a strange sound or a stock phrase that I repeat. I'm verbally fluent, but I can't use my verbal skills conversationally.


I think along with the didn't develop at all is didn't develop completely or developed
incorrectly. Neurology is so complicated.

I can read words off a list. I posted a recording of me doing that a couple years ago. But conversing forget it.


I think for me it’s both didn’t develop completely and developed incorrectly.



ravXVl
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15 May 2018, 8:16 am

In short, no. Some HFAs are nonverbal.



livingwithautism
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15 May 2018, 8:19 am

ravXVl wrote:
In short, no. Some HFAs are nonverbal.


Someone can be HFA and severely autistic. HFA and LFA are based on intellectual disability or lack thereof, not severity level.



ravXVl
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15 May 2018, 3:05 pm

livingwithautism wrote:
Someone can be HFA and severely autistic. HFA and LFA are based on intellectual disability or lack thereof, not severity level.

How do you know that? I thought HFA always meant the person has an IQ over 70 while LFA usually means the person is mentally ret*d but in very rare cases, someone with average or even above average IQ could be considered low functioning.



livingwithautism
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15 May 2018, 3:15 pm

ravXVl wrote:
livingwithautism wrote:
Someone can be HFA and severely autistic. HFA and LFA are based on intellectual disability or lack thereof, not severity level.

How do you know that? I thought HFA always meant the person has an IQ over 70 while LFA usually means the person is mentally ret*d but in very rare cases, someone with average or even above average IQ could be considered low functioning.


Intellectual disability is defined by IQ 70 or below. HFA is defined by lack of intellectual disability. Teachnically speaking, HFA and LFA are not valid diagnoses.



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15 May 2018, 3:33 pm

Isn't HFA and LFA all about functioning – ability to care for oneself? There are more factors than "autism severity" (whatever that means) and IQ that contribute to it. Sometimes there are purely environmental aspects that are crucial to this, like willingness of a given society to accept someone who sticks out. Or mental illnesses that may be results of history of abuse. Or mistreatment.


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livingwithautism
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15 May 2018, 3:37 pm

magz wrote:
Isn't HFA and LFA all about functioning – ability to care for oneself? There are more factors than "autism severity" (whatever that means) and IQ that contribute to it. Sometimes there are purely environmental aspects that are crucial to this, like willingness of a given society to accept someone who sticks out. Or mental illnesses that may be results of history of abuse. Or mistreatment.


That’s how it should be, but it’s based on intellectual disability, which is a combo of IQ below 70 and impaired adaptive skills.



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15 May 2018, 3:45 pm

livingwithautism wrote:
magz wrote:
Isn't HFA and LFA all about functioning – ability to care for oneself? There are more factors than "autism severity" (whatever that means) and IQ that contribute to it. Sometimes there are purely environmental aspects that are crucial to this, like willingness of a given society to accept someone who sticks out. Or mental illnesses that may be results of history of abuse. Or mistreatment.


That’s how it should be, but it’s based on intellectual disability, which is a combo of IQ below 70 and impaired adaptive skills.

^^^^
This


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15 May 2018, 3:51 pm

Though high-functioning isn't really a clearly defined term, I understand it to mean no intellectual disability and no verbal impairment.

Depends how you define severely autistic. There are people who are non-verbal but have high intelligence, though they still may have severe difficulties with daily functioning. But I'd say no, the spectrum is too complex to be divided into neat categories like that.