#hsn autistic

[clownrecess]

(TW functioning labels, ableism, meltdowns, doctors, etc.)

I was diagnosed as autistic when I was 10, and I was more specifically diagnosed with "High functioning autism". The person my psychiatrist saw was me on easy days, on days when I was fully calm, on days when I could easily communicate, and had no other job than to sit and do what she told me to do.

She hadn't seen me go fully mute for months on end, she hadn't seen me fully unable to take care of my basic needs, she hadn't seen me have violent meltdowns, she hadn't seen me hit and bite myself because I couldn't identify my emotions, she hadn't seen me run into the street because I have nothing in my brain telling me not to, she hadn't seen me unable to change clothes for multiple days, she hadn't seen me only able to shower once a week, she hadn't seen me unable to properly exist in gened, she hadn't seen me have severe meltdowns over a change I liked just because I didnt expect it, she hadn't seen me put a small hole in a wall during a meltdown, she hadn't seen me as a full time AAC user, she hadn't seen me as a part time AAC user, she hadn't seen me unable to sleep without an intensely large amount of nightlights, she hadn't seen me unable to bathe myself until age 9 or 10, etc.

She saw me in a calm state, once every few months, on days when I could communicate easily and do what she asked. That is all she saw of me, her asking me questions, having me do things, and asking my mom questions.

If she saw me, and I was the way I described in front of her, my diagnosis would probably be closer to something like "moderate functioning autism".

But here's the thing, ON DIFFERENT DAYS, I FIT DIFFERENT CRITERIA FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF AUTISM DIAGNOSES.

My ability to "Function" varies so so much, and this makes functioning labels extremely inaccurate.

Now, let's use support needs to describe me. I am a person who's support needs fluctuate from med-high. I have med-high support needs. This is accurate for me, and it is not ableist.

I wanted to talk about this to describe how functioning labels suck, and also to talk about how support needs fluctuate; and that is okay.

[lightning-system]

I'm making banana bread with my students today. Wish me luck!

I love doing practical life skills activities like this with them that are also super fun. They can be more work and tiring to plan/lead but are so useful for building skills while also being engaging.

[swordsonnet]

lately, i've seen more people in the online autistic community acknowledging the struggles of people with higher support needs, which is of course an important development. but for some, that seems to come with the implicit assumption that low needs autistics "have it easy" or experience no stigma at all, which is just wrong??? people with low support needs are still disabled by their autism and still face discrimination because of it. sure, they are impaired to a lesser degree than those with higher support needs, but that doesn't mean you can just erase their struggles, y'know?

[crowpunkcognitivedecline]

this is a cripple punk post; ableds must tag reblogs with #i’m able bodied

stop calling ND people’s ableism against physdis folks “lateral ableism.” it’s not lateral.

the vast majority of physdis folks are ND. while ND people can absolutely be disabled, ND disability works and is experienced differently, and isn’t just “physdis but mental”

ND people’s ableism against crips isn’t “lateral.” it’s ableism with an excuse.

[spectrumgarden]

.... I don't know how to put this but you being forced to do something you dont feel comfortable doing / takes a lot of effort and energy to accomplish, because you get no support, as a means of survival. You still aren't in a comparable situation to HSN and a lot of MSN people.

If we aren't given the help we need, we can not force ourselves through the thing. It just doesnt get done, no matter the consequences. If I see one more person saying they're MSN/HSN but do everything by themselves because they "have to", like. You can still do the ADLs. I wish you get the support you need, im not saying having to do all the ADLs by yourself doesnt cause distress, or use up all your available energy. but your experience is still different from when people who genuinely cant complete ADLs by themselves dont get help. We just starve and go thirsty and stink and our teeth rot away, we may develop skin conditions etc, we endanger ourselves, we harm ourselves, and in extreme situations, fucking die.

And I know how different the situations really are because before I regressed I was able to push through ADLs even if that took all my energy. When I was 12 I showered 4 times a week, I brushed my teeth, I was able to cook, I took public transit to school every day, I made phone calls, ... and it was hard! I was struggling so much! But it's not comparable to how neglect now just means i dont do the things. I cant.

[gurorori]

if you say shit like 'autism is not a disability' i hope you actually have really bad things happen to you and you are banned from the autism community for the foreseeable future. get another fun weird club if you so badly need one

so profoundly tired of people trying to make autism into this whimsical quirkiness when it's for most people a serious and debilitating life altering disorder

[stardew-bajablast]

the way a lot of y’all on this site hear “autism” and automatically assume whoever is speaking means “low support needs autism” is really weird and ableist. sorry it just is

[queerforscience]

Summary: Unmasking Autism by Devon Price has a lot of good insights, but in my opinion could use more nuance about the harms experienced by early diagnosed autistics and autistics who can't mask.

I've been listening to the audiobook of Unmasking Autism by Devon Price. There's a lot of really good information in it and a lot that's really relatable as a late diagnosed, trans, fairly high masking autistic and I have a few criticisms of it:

It seems that Dr. Price falls into the common "grass is greener" pitfall. The book is focused on the harms of masking and the way that oppression forces many marginalized people to mask. It also discusses the way that this causes many marginalized people to not be recognized as autistic, which robs us of a valuable tool for understanding ourselves and our struggles. I felt that the way these very really harms were discussed sometimes minimized the also very real harms that come with being diagnosed as autistic as a child, especially for marginalized people. These discussions also didn't acknowledge the fact that some autistics cannot mask and experience specific harms because of that.

Similarly, I felt there were some missed chances to emphasize the internalized ableism component of the urge to distance ourselves from the label autism. This was framed in a discussion about how certain stereotypes about autism can make it more difficult to recognize and identify with autism within ourselves, but many of those stereotypes, like "the nonverbal toddler in bulky noise cancelling headphones at the grocery store, do represent some very real autistics who are also valuable human beings. This was addressed some later in the book than when this criticism first arose for me, but I think it's something that should have been more emphasized throughout. Similarly, there could have been more emphasis that people who do fit certain other labels also deserve to be treated better when when discussing the stigma that comes with some misdiagnoses autistic people commonly receive, such as personality disorders.

At least as far as I've gotten, there's a fair amount of discussion of eating disorders among autistic people, but this discussion has been strictly about restrictive eating disorders and primarily anorexia. It's fine to focus on that, but if you claim to be discussing eating disorders generally you also need to talk about bingeing. ARFID should also be included, especially if you're talking about autistics!

There's a lot of discussion about maladaptive drug use and substance use disorders among autistic people, but so far I feel there's been a lack of recognition that drug use can be adaptive as well.

So far, I think I would overall recommend the book. However, I do also worry about what people reading it without also having heard the perspectives of high support needs and/or low masking autistics may take away from it. Similarly, I also think people reading it should be sure to seek out the perspectives of people who do identify with BPD, NPD, schizophrenia, and other highly stigmatized disorders that autistic people are sometimes labelled with.

[autisticdreamdrop]

Since we are a mid to high support level system shoutout to the autistics that :

can't clean themselves correctly (+ too scared to ask for help)

can't wipe correctly (+ too scared to ask for help)

have a hard time dressing yourself  (+ too scared to ask for help)

have to be reminded to bathe

have to be reminded to wash your hair

have to be reminded to eat

have to be reminded to brush your teeth

have accidents

wet the bed

don't have great hygiene

[seillean-sys]

Disability and conflicting needs

There is no reality in which everyone’s needs are 100% accommodated 100% of the time. As much as I wish that could be the case, that possibility would require much more homogeneity than what human beings experience as a species. We are not monolithic enough for everyone to be accommodated all of the time. The range of human experience is too expansive for that.

This goes for every type of disability. As an example, an autistic person or a person who has sensory processing disorder may need an area to have low light so as to not be overstimulated. However, a blind person may need that same area to have brighter lights so that they can maneuver the space. Someone with light sensitive migraines may also need low lighting. My first thought is in a space like a sensory room. Designed for autistic folks, yes, but what of blind autistic folks? Do they not have the same right to access a space created for autistic people?

I’m writing this post because someone in a server I’m in experienced what I can only describe as lateral ableism due to a difficulty, as an autistic person, in using tone tags. Alexithymia makes it difficult to identify their own emotions and tone, unless someone asks them directly “are you angry, are you joking,” etc. And they were penalized for expressing this need. Tone tags don’t work for everyone. Can’t work for everyone. And the insistence that they are required in every online space focused around autism is showing itself to be limiting that space to low support needs autistics. It is easy enough to say “we generally require tone tags, but due to this disability you are expressing we can adjust the way that you express your tone in messages.” It’s not hard. Really what this boils down to is that to fellow LSN autistics, we need to be aware and inclusive of the MSN and HSN autistic people in our community. Don’t leave them out of autistic spaces, and don’t force them to either do something they literally can’t do or leave.

[autism-culture-is]

HSN autistic culture is being mad at LSN for being ableist to us/throw us under the bus/take away out terms but also trying to stay calm because all they need is to be educated and to listen

.

[magz]

Am just "Middle-low support needs" autistic disabled,

and even of level - get alienated from rest of autistic community.

Even with accepting parts, there still. Stuff that hurt. Different ways. Hm.

Much think about.

[currently-getting-a-diagnosis]

Being a mid support needs autistic feels like being a child of divorce.

[lightblueminecraftorchid]

part of my job is going on Instagram to see what questions autistic families have

and

I’m getting real sick and tired of “ABA is the perfect therapy which has never had an issue ever and also I will not vaccinate my children because obviously the autism is from vaccine injury”

or

“ABA is 100% abusive and has never benefitted anyone, also if you call your child nonverbal instead of nonspeaking you’re a terrible person, and support levels are ableist BS made up by neurotypicals”.

with very little in between.

I get that autism causes black and white thinking but please golly can there be some nuance on the little camera app.

[bpdragatha]

Should I say I imagine Gangle as a HSN autistic or is that Too obviously me projecting …