Anyone else surprised by their ASD "level" diagnosis?

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So I was diagnosed with autism/Asperger's a few months ago (I was diagnosed after all PDDs were grouped into ASD, but the clinician said it would have been Asperger's by the previous DSM), but I just got the full report on all my mental conditions (I was diagnosed after a battery of extensive psychological testing) and learned I was diagnosed with ASD Level 2 instead of 1... I am pretty high functioning, and thought that ASD levels were the same as levels of functioning (e.g. Level 1 was more Asperger's/HFA, Level 2 was more moderate, and Level 3 was low-functioning/"classical" autism), but I guess I am wrong. From what I gathered on the report, Level 2 means "requiring substantial support", and I do need support when it comes to functioning in school and living independently, and I had some support in elementary and middle school when it came to speech and social skills (even though I was undiagnosed in terms of autism). But I guess I just thought Level 2 meant moderate autistic disorder when I'm more in the Asperger's category, but it seems to be more dependent on how much support you need. So hypothetically, you could fall into the Asperger's range but be Level 3, though not really the other way around. I think this is why it's important to defer to the professionals and be cautious about diagnosing yourself, because in the end the professionals know more than you when it comes to diagnosis (for the most part, I was misdiagnosed as bipolar when I am very clearly not bipolar), even though you know yourself best. I am not a professional by any means, just a psychology student, so I definitely don't know everything about autism diagnosis (though it is one of my special interests).

I would have been Level 3 in my toddler years.

Probably Level 1 now.

I'm curious as to what is seen as 'substantial support' . How is that defined? I'm in the UK where currently we don't have such levels .

I would say that “substantial support” means that the presence of somebody other than yourself is required for a considerable part of your waking day.

You certainly need “support.”

You may or many not need “substantial support.”

I sense you’re in between requiring “little” and “substantial” support.

But at least you’ve got your stepdaughter.

I don't know what number I'd be given but I was surprised when I was told I placed at the middle of what would have previously been called Aspergers. Yes, I do have difficulties but at the time I thought I was going to be borderline. Although, now that the years have passed I can see I am missing things but it still stumps me as I thought I'd have to be worse to be in the middle.

For people who don’t have “visible” disabilities, I would say the situation is similar to what is found in the UK. Maybe even a bit worse.

One cannot get benefits if one is “only” diagnosed with Aspergers or Autism, Level One. Another diagnosis would have to be used as a “supplement” to the Aspergian or autistic one diagnosis. Like Bipolar, for example.

I’m not surprised.

Level 3 requires “very substantial” support. Level 2 requires “substantial” support—per the DSM-V.