What's your functioning level?

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Someone on another thread mentioned that you don't see a lot of people who aren't high functioning posting on here. I thought I would start this thread so maybe we could all identify who is who and where at on the spectrum we are.

I'm high functioning, pretty mild for the most part, and was diagnosed in my 40's. I don't need or have any special accomodations except now that I know what's going on with me and why I am the way I am about certain things I can understand them more and also make sure that I do keep myself from getting overwhelmed, because I know now that it's not just weakness, it's a real disorder.

Next?

Last edited by OliveOilMom on 06 May 2013, 8:02 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Could use a poll.

I could be labeled as high functioning but there are times when my functioning level is markedly decreased from that, or sometimes might appear so.

I do not care for the functioning labels as they tend to lead to assumptions about what one is capable of as well as what one is consistently capable of.

I'll add one if you think it's a good idea. What should I say on it?

High functioning
Moderate functioning
Low functioning

It helps to get a sense of things beyond the thread replies.

High function and non-function at the same time is how I feel about myself.

The depression and anxiety are what tend to destroy my chances of functioning in the world.
Being so different messes with my head.

i am low functioning. i used to have it as my signature. maybe i should put it back up.

I agree to a poll, but I think you should add an option for those who switch between functioning levels.

I'm mostly high functioning, but when I go nonverbal, I don't think you can call me high functioning then.

On a sliding scale with 1 being slightly autistic and 10 being extremely autistic within Aspergers/HFA: I'd put myself at about an 8.

Or even an an Aspie score: Mine is 196/200 AS - 5/200 NT. AQ 46/50.

I was originally diagnosed at age 7 and spent most of my childhood in schools for autistic and developmentally disabled kids. I was completely unable to function within the regular public school system.

I'm able to look after myself, but have to maintain life on a very simplistic level. I live alone in a small apartment. I sleep, go work; a very easy simplistic job. I come home, go outside (sometimes) and wander around like a little kid would. Or I sit at home watching TV, playing on the internet and working on various little hobbies. That's it, that's my life, day in day out. I live by myself and operate on a very simplistic level, like a child. I sometimes go days or weeks without any kind of social interaction whatsoever. But I rarely get lonely or board. I've never had a real friend, girlfriend, spouse or children. I worry that at some point, as I get closer to becoming a senior citizen, I'll become institutionalized.

Last edited by briankelley on 06 May 2013, 7:56 pm, edited 4 times in total.

I don't know my functioning level (technically it's "high functioning" based on IQ tests...I don't know what it would be if people looked at my actual life). I don't think it could be generalized...in many areas I'm both "high" and "low" functioning depending on what the task and the context is.

Last edited by animalcrackers on 06 May 2013, 8:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I agree about that, although I don't think losing speech is what changes my functioning level. It does rather profoundly impact my communication, but it's one of many things that fluctuates.

<--- Looking forward to being institutionalized. Everything and everyone at your fingertips? Sign me up!

Honestly, one time I was in for depression and was feeling a little better after a few days but I told my doctor to give me two or three more days. I had insurance then and it covered everything. I told him that the time away was helping me as much as the meds and therapy. And it was! Of course I was at a really nice for profit hospital that time, where my mother had worked in administration for 20 years or so and where I had worked before and where I was taken a lot as a child to stay while my mother was working. I practically grew up in that hospital and was very familiar with it and knew many of the people there.

I would not have done that at the other one I was in.

I am high-functioning due to doing things my own ways.

I'm high functioning. I live on my own, I've worked for a total of 8 years with my two payed jobs put together. I've volunteered at a soup kitchen around people for 5 years. I'm able to cook, clean, do laundry and pay my own bills. I know what I like and I'm not influenced by mainstream popular culture as it's been since the late 1980s. I also accept myself and my autism.

I picked combination.

Suspect that from an NT frame of reference I've got a handful of close to "not functional" aspects. On the functional side, I maintain and own my house, have a decent paying job, generally take care of the mundane day to day stuff that some view as life. High function, have an affinity for process, project management, logic/reasoning, math, science, quality... seem to be able to put pieces together, perform analysis at a much more accelerated rate than nearly anyone I've known. Also athletically... High.

Not/Low functional, ugh, for all my ability in creating an air tight justification for budget allocations, or managing a complex project, or designing and implementing quality systems that will optimize output - eliminate returns, when it comes to relational discussion with a significant other I'm left in the dust. Often find myself trying to figure out what was meant in a specific sentence, only to find out the conversation is now four or more points ahead of me and the one I'm still working on may not even be relevant anymore. Can't get a read on people, specially women. Often do not know I've hurt their feelings or even what I did to hurt them (though I'm getting better since I've been diagnosed). Seldom have known a woman was attracted to me, unless they made it so obvious I couldn't miss it... not very conducive to finding a mate with societal norms. Have trouble piecing together systems that seem nebulous to me (like medical stuff... guess that's why they call it practicing) and knowing what to do, or even being able to determine if it's an emergency or not (except the obvious like, oh, say... a broken bone, etc. but it needs to be very obvious). Social protocol is largely lost on me. Those who know me just know at times I need to be hit by a truck, or whacked with a hammer to get it... that hasn't been the most successful model for relationships (and each new one has new rules... :::sigh::: and I was just putting together the rules for the last one).

Last edited by TomGunsmoke on 06 May 2013, 10:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I would guess moderate to high functioning, so a combination. When I am learning something new it can take a while for me to learn (often with support). I have to be guided through things in steps.

To be able to work, I need much adaptation for me to be able to do job training now, though I love that I am getting support to do what I love. In a way I am often "in my own world".

Last edited by Lumi on 07 May 2013, 1:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.