"Severity of autism" = how visible?

Post Reply New Topic

Can it be that the severity of autism is often determined by how visible impairments such as the amount of self-help skills and also by the visible autistic behaviour such as stimming and other repetitive movement are? There should be a scale for how bad sensory issues are, I think there is, but there is no scale for how worse social issues are, is there, although they're all part of autism spectrum disorders.

Because when some professionals speak about how severe autism in someone is (if they don't speak about those that have issues with speech/little speech/no speech), then they always talk about self-help skills and how many repetitive movement the person exhibits.
Is that a good way to determine how light or severe the autism is?

Is being hf or lf exactly the same as 'light' and 'severe' autism? Because... I imagine a person with 'light' autism who'd be able to do lots of things, but who is also multiply disabled by other things than autism, would they be also considered 'low-functioning' in regards of autism? Or not so?

I know people on WP sometimes say that AS can be impair an individual worse than kanner's/classical, but even though I believe that, I have yet to hear it from professionals, why is that?

To answer your last question first....because it hurts their brains to think about the complexities of the spectrum.


I think classification in the field rarely extends past the obvious.This is still a relatively new DX and I dont think they want to complicate it with the more ambiguous things like "social skills".I know that I have social skills issues because I can't make or keep friends and employment has been a challenge for me even though I believe I am a hard worker.Because I am able bodied and educated is expected that I should be able to achieve a certain level of functioning.If I dont it is written off as a psychological,not neurological issue.I am technically developmentally delayed with a BA...that just confuses people because it doesn't fit the current thought paradigm.


I dont have to have assistance to dress myself but I do if I want to dress myself in a manor that others will find exceptable and allow me to get a better job due to the biases of human resources.I dont need someone to feed me but I find it difficult to plan a meal from start to finish,though I have improved with years of practice(I se to live on chocolate chip cookies and ramon noodles).I dont stare at a spinning fan for hours but it takes a great amount of energy to pull myself away from my current "interests" and I often avoid starting something because it is to painful to stop and go to work.


So our "disability" is often an internal struggle that the scientist have difficulty measuring and just like "germs",once apon a time,what you can not see does not exist(until someone invents away to see and measure it).

i dont really stim to much but i have severe sensory & routine issues, and patience problems. so i dont know where that would place me on the scale but im guessing since i get ssdi its pretty bad