[Nike007]

So I saw my therapist the other day, and I said I really would like to deal with issues regarding autism more, since they impact me a lot. And we somehow got to the topic of funding for people diagnosed with ASD. I said there should be more funding for people with HF ASD and adults, since there is a lack in this area. But my therapist was saying how if they have more severe autism, shouldn't they get more funding, if they aren't able to take care of themselves? And to me, that makes sense, but that doesn't mean to not fund people on the higher functioning end of it. I still struggle a lot, even though i'm going to university for a biomedical engineering degree. I really don't know what the best solution for this is.

I remember when I didn't get approved for assistance at school because I my problems only showed trouble at school and not at home. The rules are really weird sometimes.

[kkrrhh]

Hmm. I forget where it was, but I was reading something written by an autistic woman who was talking about functioning labels. What she was saying was, basically, let's say there are 2 autistic people, one of whom is nonverbal and has a lot of other "symptoms" that would make them considered lower functioning and very "visibly" autistic; and one who would be labeled pretty high functioning and can even pass as neurotypical some days, but has severe sensory issues which lead to agoraphobia most days.

The first person in the scenario, despite being nonverbal and someone the average person may look at and judge as not being very capable, is able to go to school and do well in a career that doesn't involve much human interaction and they're generally happy. The second person, despite being hypothetically more capable of functioning otherwise, is so impeded by their sensory issues and the complications that making it through school is impossible and they struggle in a lot of areas, and never really end up finding a job that works well for long.

Technically she was arguing against the use of functioning labels, and I'm not personally against them, but I think that argument actually applies here, too. Don't get me wrong, of course there's a general trend of much more help needed for those who are "lower-functioning", but it's also hard for doctors or anyone to objectively judge and unfair to decide there's some sort of cut off or something.
Plus even those who are labeled high functioning and actually do generally function well in the world can need help in some ways, so yeah.

[vishva8kumara]

One of my therapists suggested that high functioning autism would rather not be considered Autism or Asperger. And then they address other neurotic symptoms without looking into the root cause which could probably be HFA..

Obviously, people who are lower functioning autistic needs more help in their day-to-day life. But someone else on the high-functioning end could be putting a lot of effort to go through their everyday life and doing a job while dealing with psychosomatic symptoms too often.