#low needs autism

[our-autistic-experience]

we had a fire drill at my school today

usually the school counselor is supposed to come get me early because of my 504 and other accommodations that i have

but apparently they don't actually care to help the disabled students if it's not a physical disability

so guess who was completely ✨shut down and nonverbal✨ for the rest of the school day and up until just now

[lightning-system]

As a medium/lower support needs autistic who works with young higher support needs autistic:

We all matter. We all have the same diagnosis. We all deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

But we are not the same.

I can mask and might be seen as 'odd' or 'weird' in public. The students I work with are seen as 'dangerous' and 'practically little kids'.

I can go to university and work with accommodations. The students I work with likely will never live independently and a few might find jobs that support them but still pay them less than an abled worker.

I have full control of my finances. The students I work with aren't allowed to make independent financial decisions, even if capable.

If I say 'no,' I'm making a choice. The students I work with can't say 'no' without being labeled as defiant and difficult.

I can feed myself, bathe myself, and take care of myself with extreme challenges. The students I work with are unable to take care of themselves without high levels of support/one on one support.

I had an IEP in high school but was mainstreamed in classes. The students I work with take separate classes and some rarely get to interact with their abled peers.

Our experiences are fundamentally different. Higher support needs autistics will experience a specific type of ableism I never will, and can never fully understand.

Lower support needs autistics need to stop saying we understand what higher support needs autistics are going through and then present autism as only being disabling because of society/lack of acceptance because that is dangerous. We need to stop saying every autistic person is capable of everything if given the right support because that leaves out huge parts of our community who will never be able to do certain things, regardless of support.

We are worthy of existence regardless of our abilities.

Autism is a spectrum. It is not the same for every autistic person. Autism acceptance and advocacy has to come with accepting, acknowledging, and listening to our higher support needs peers.

[zebulontheplanet]

I think people have greatly watered down autism into this silly label or identity that they can collect.

I’ve seen multiple posts that defend that autism should be an identity, similar to how sexualities and gender labels are. I think they’re missing multiple things with this analogy. First, you cannot help your queerness. It’s not simply a “label” it’s your whole being. It’s who you are.

I want people to realize that autism is a serious disorder for over half of people diagnosed with autism. From more then 30% being higher support needs, to more than that having different comorbidities, it’s a serious disorder. Not only can it affect every aspect of your life, it can severely affect how your health is, how independent you are, etc.

To a lot of people autism isn’t “a silly label” it’s a disorder. A disorder that comes with comorbities, that affects how they speak or don’t speak, how they view the world, how the process or dont process things, etc.

Higher support needs people need to be recognized, and in turn you have to recognize the disorders that they have. You can’t ignore them. You can’t simply shrug it off as a silly little label or identity.

People deserve to have their life altering disorders taken seriously and not turned into something that’s shrugged off and seen as another add in the newspaper. Autism is serious. It’s a neurodevelopmental disorder. Say what it is. Don’t water it down.

That’s all.

[radiostatic166]

Please stop infantlizing autistic people

Stop being weirded out when we cuss. Stop being weirded out when we talk about nsfw topics. Stop being weirded out when we are semiverbal or nonverbal.

We can smoke too, we can drink, vape, and cuss and do anything normal people can do. We can have (concented) sexual relationships. We can kiss people. We can have kinks. We can like BDSM or have fetishes. We are not innocent little kids.

Just because we have a disability doesn't mean we aren't people.

Just because we sometimes need to live with someone else doesn't mean we aren't people.

Just because we don't pick up on social clues doesn't mean we aren't people.

STOP INFANTILIZING US. STOP CALLING US INNOCENT. STOP THINKING YOU NEED TO PROTECT US. WE ARE REGULAR PEOPLE TOO.

[meowtismz]

please please please STOP weird out when autistics specially nonverbal semiverbal autistics cuss talk about nsfw topics etc

deserve talk about topics if old enough like any other peers

autistic cuss have sexual relationship (with consent) consume alcohol date etc etc etc

STOP INFANTILIZING US we humans too

[willtheweirdrat]

Here's to the autistics who are "way too aggressive". Here's to the autistics who get angry easily. Here's to the autistics who are impulsive. Here's to the autistics who have destructive meltdowns. Here's to the autistics who's anger ruins friendships/relationships. Here's to the autistics who can't control their emotions. Here's to the autistics who are bitter and mad. I see you, I love you (platonically), and I hope you have a great day.

[stealingfromwoolworths]

Currently waiting for people to realise that yes, the autistic teens, kids, adults and elders who are always swarmed by aids, cannot speak, lash out, have limited speech, act “dumb”, run away into dangerous places (eg. Roads, pools ect.) when overwhelmed, are similar to the autistic stereotype or in general don’t act in a “civilised manner”

Have access to the internet

They are on tumblr

We are on tumblr

And we don’t appreciate being your punching bag, being excluded from conversations about accessibility, or used as a tool by high functioning autistics who want to say “oh look at me I’m not like the autistics who bite people or make weird sounds in public or need support, I’m just unique and have fun interests.”

We are real people and we are smarter then you think.

Edit: thanks to the people who pointed out that smart wasn’t the right word! So I’m going to add this: the opinions of me, a low functioning autistic who has the privilege to be able to write coherently and communicate my opinions and views in two different languages, holds the exact same weight as someone who cannot do any of those things and in fact sometimes it’s their opinion and views that matter more. The opinion of “smart” autistics matters just as much as the opinion of “non smart” autistics and people you would consider dumb. Lower functioning autistics who are not conventionally or, at all, “smart” are just as human, important and valuable and deserve to have their opinions taken into consideration just as much as I do writing this. You don’t loose your value as a human or as a disabled person when you aren’t smart.

[serpentandthreads]

The fact that autistic adults are being bullied off the internet because they share videos of themselves stimming or sharing their special interests is appalling. What's even more disgusting is the fact that a lot of the people bullying autistic adults off the internet for this are low support needs autistics.

Autistic adults sharing videos of themselves stimming isn't "making autistic adults look childish" or "an obvious sign of faking autism". Autistic adults sharing their special interests isn't "immature" or "childish".

Low support needs autistic adults are all for "autism acceptance", "autism awareness" and "fuck ableism" until other autistic adults, no matter where they are on the spectrum, publicly share what autism looks like for them.

[autismaccount]

I've reached 35 responses! They're very interesting, but the sample size is still small, and I don't think it's at all representative of the Tumblr autism community. If I can't reach at least 100 responses, I don't think I'll be able to analyze Tumblr community views on support needs in depth. I'll still post descriptive statistics for the overall sample, but I won't have the statistical power to do anything else.

I'd really appreciate if everyone could help by taking the survey and reblogging this post to their followers!

As a reminder, the survey is meant to understand how people use support needs labels. For example, what makes someone low support needs and not moderate support needs? The survey also helps show what the community is like in general in terms of demographics and experiences!

A summary of the current survey results are under the Read More. Again, especially if a community that you're in is under-represented, please help by spreading the survey link! I'd especially love to hear from more people AMAB, racial/ethnic minorities, people who are not yet diagnosed or were diagnosed as adults, and higher support needs individuals!

Age: Most participants are young; 60% are under age 25%, and 20% are under 18.

Gender: Over half of the sample is AFAB nonbinary, almost 1/3 is trans men, and almost all of the remainder (14%) is cis women. Only 2 people who are AMAB have taken the survey.

Race/Ethnicity: Non-Hispanic White people are very over-represented, making up 82% of the sample.

Diagnosis: 57% are professionally diagnosed, 20% are informally or soft-diagnosed, and 14% are seeking a diagnosis. Only 9% are neither diagnosed nor seeking a diagnosis.

The most common diagnoses are ASD with no level (33%), level 1 ASD (25%), and "mild autism" (13%).

16% were diagnosed before age 8, 24% between ages 9 and 15, 32% between ages 16 and 18, 12% between ages 19 and 25, and 16% over age 25.

Autism Support Needs: The most common self-identified support needs label is "low-moderate" (43%), followed by low (23%) and moderate (14%). Most would benefit from but do not need weekly support (31%), only need accommodations and mental health support (17%), or rarely need any support (6%).

Autism Symptoms: On a severity scale of 0 (not applicable) to 3 (severe), the average is 1.7 overall, 1.8 socially, and 1.7 for restricted-repetitive behaviors. The most severe symptom is sensory issues (2.1), and the least severe are nonverbal communication and stimming (both 1.5).

83% are fully verbal, and 97% have no intellectual disability.

38% can mask well enough to seem "off" but not necessarily autistic. 21% can't mask well or for long.

Most experience shutdowns (94%), difficulties with interoception (80%), meltdowns (71%), alexithymia (71%), echolalia (69%), and autistic mutism (66%). Very few experience psychosis (14%) or catatonia (11%).

Self-Diagnosis: 20% think it's always fine to self-diagnose autism, 29% think it's almost always fine, 31% think it's only okay if an assessment is inaccessible, 71% think it needs to be done carefully, and 11% think it's okay to suspect but not self-diagnose.

15% think it's always fine to self-diagnose autism DSM-5 levels (including if the person has been told they don't have autism), 15% think it's fine as long as autism hasn't been ruled out, 21% think it's almost always fine, 18% think it's only okay if an assessment is inaccessible, 36% think it needs to be done carefully, and 36% think it's okay to suspect but not self-diagnose.

26% think it's always fine to self-diagnose autism support needs labels (including if the person has been told they don't have autism), 29% think it's fine as long as autism hasn't been ruled out, 37% think it's almost always fine, 29% think it's only okay if an assessment is inaccessible, 43% think it needs to be done carefully, and 6% think it's okay to suspect but not self-diagnose.

Disability: 71% feel disabled by autism, 17% feel disabled by another condition but not autism, and 11% are unsure.

Comorbidities: The most common mental health comorbidities are anxiety (68%), ADHD (62%), and depression (56%).

The least common mental health disorders are schizophrenia spectrum disorders (0%), bipolar disorders (3%), tic disorders (6%), substance use disorders (6%), personality disorder (9%), and OCD (9%).

The most common physical health comorbidities are gastrointestinal issues (29%), connective tissue disorders (29%), autoimmune disorders (24%), neurological disorders or injuries (24%), and hearing/vision loss (24%). All others are below 20%.

Overall Support Needs: When considering comorbidities, the most common self-identified support needs label is moderate (37%), followed by low-moderate (31%) and low (17%).

[snakeautistic]

So many therapists are LAUGHABLY misinformed about autism. When I was first researching autism I brought it up to my therapist and she laughed it off because I knew not to only talk about my special interests during therapy, and I didn’t stim super visibly and frequently. That was an incredibly invalidating experience for me.

Even after that, when I could tell she’d considered it further and realized my theory had merit, it was like she was afraid of the word autism. She’d say I was quirky, or a little different, or just very sensitive, and that I “moved at my own rhythm”. At the very most she’d admit that I might have some slight traits but if I was autistic I would be “very very high-functioning” and probably didn’t meet enough criteria to be diagnosed. She agreed I should get an evaluation, but mostly so I could find out other disorders I might have.

Anyway, I got the diagnosis. She of course spun it like she’d been sure it was going to happen the whole time. She made sure to assure me that no one could tell, and again how extremely high-functioning I was. She’s still afraid to say autistic, and will jump through hoops to avoid saying the word.

It’s so frustrating to me just how stigmatized autism is, even in the mental health field. Professionals fail to understand the spectrum part of autism.

[spacefaringamoeba]

I hate that I'm considered "high functioning". I barely qualify for any "level" of disability in my country and I will never get a disability income. Yes. I'm able to go to work. But I will not be able to hold it for more than a few months before getting burned out and having daily meltdowns. No, having 10 minutes extra work break won't help me. Neither will wearing headphones or carrying fidgets. I'm literally not able to work 40h a week without severe negative consequences... How do i fucking exist in this society!

[yellowyarn]

i love you autistics who don't have special interests

I love you autistics without sensory issues

i love you autistics who are hyposenstive

i love you autistics who are both hypo- and hypersensitive

I love you autistics who hate routine

i love you low empathy autistics

i love you high empathy autistics

I love you autistics with lots of freinds

I love you autistics who are hyper verbal

i love you autistics who make lots of eye contact

i love you autistics who can't mask

i love you autistics who dont know who they aren't behind their mask

i love autistics who are "childish"

i love autistics that have never had a meltdown

i love autistics with catatonia

i love autistics with intellectual disabilities

i love autistics with Anxiety and/or Depression

i love autistics with Psychotic Disorders

i love autistics with Bipolar Disorders

i love autistics with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

i love autistics with truma Disorders

i love autistics with Dissociative Disorders

i love autistics with Eating Disorders

i love autistics with Somatic symptoms Disorders

i love autistics with Sleep Disorders

i love autistics with addictions

i love autistics with Personality Disorders

i loved autistic systems

i love autistics with multiple disabilities

i love autistics that can't work

i love autistics that cant leave their house

I love autistics who can't live alone

i love autistics who use AAC

i love poc autistics

i love people with autism who prefer person first language

i love autistics who use function labels

i love autistics with outdated diagnoses

i love autistics who were/are misdignosied

i love self diagnosed autistics

i love all autistic people

[zebulontheplanet]

I want people to understand. Being visibly autistic, being low masking, it isn’t fun.

I want people to understand this before they go on their unmasking journey. I want people to understand this before they start “acting more autistic”. I want people to understand this. It isn’t fun. It isn’t all rainbows and butterflies. I understand completely that I live in a more unaccepting area, but this is the reality for many people who are visibly autistic everywhere!

It isn’t fun. We get yelled at, called slurs, stared at, infantilized, talked over, ignored, etc etc. it isn’t fun. It HURTS.

Please please, if youre masking then realize your privilege, it’s a HARD privilege to have. I get that. It’s hard to mask, it’s hard to be passed as NT, it’s HARD. But it’s also hard to be visibly autistic. It’s so so hard. 

[aacalienz]

if you’re autistic (even if you’re white, able to mask and fully speaking) you’re much closer to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities than you ever will be to neurotypical society. Include people with I/DD in your activism. Don’t separate yourself from us. I’d go as far as to say all autistic people have a developmental disability. You don’t have to identify that way, but really think hard about why you’re choosing not to. Autism is a Developmental Disability and and by separating yourself from intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) you are throwing autistics with higher support needs and autitistics with intellectual disabilities under the bus. (Signed developmentally disabled autistics without ID who are considered developmentally disabled by the state)

[disabledbutchblues]

able-bodied neurotypical people want quiet disability. invisible disability. they love it when we don’t complain and don’t shove our needs in their face. they love it when we stay home and die quietly instead of trying to live (but they don’t like it when we stay home and need caregivers).

[paragraph about self then next ones on more general and important things] i recently realized that i make many people uncomfortable irl because i talk about my symptoms. i wasn’t aware it was wrong, because i’m autistic and struggle a lot with notions of public vs private space, and what can be said to whom. i’m very open about my disabilities and struggles, both because i don’t realize i’m saying something i shouldn’t, and because i don’t have a choice and often can’t mask (i am not high masking. not low masking either tho). i don’t wear unnoticeable noise cancelling headphones, they’re not good enough for me at all, i wear big obvious ear defenders with a fluorescent part. i sit down on the floor of a store if my legs hurt. i don’t sit normally anywhere, including at school, because i can’t, i can’t sit correctly and not move, it’s painful. i don’t hesitate to tell people i have terrible executive dysfunction. i openly say i am in pain and need to rest, even if it’s abnormal for a teenager to not have a healthy strong body. when it seems relevant to the conversation, i share the fact that i struggled with an eating disorder and self harm and that i recovered/am recovering. when someone asks me how i am doing, i tell them i’m feeling terrible because i am in pain or because i am suicidal or because i am overwhelmed— this is partly a choice to be open about my disability, partly the fact that i don’t notice until it’s too late that they don’t want me to be honest, and party the fact that there are many things i cannot hide. i tell people that i am not independent, can’t cook, can’t go to new places alone, can’t shop, can’t maintain hygiene and that i don’t shower enough or brush my teeth regularly. when someone asks if i plan on learning how to drive i say that i don’t want to right now because my processing issues would be dangerous and i would get in an accident. i tell people i have meltdowns and shutdowns at school. i hit myself in public sometimes.

yet i am not visibly disabled. i’m very lucky and privileged within the disabled community. i am visibly weird and there is visibly something wrong with me but i am only visibly disabled to someone who spends some time with me and sees me unable to process informations or unable to do IADLs. strangers don’t know i’m disabled until i tell them— they mock a symptom or ask why i can’t do something and i say i’m autistic, i’m disabled, i’m in pain. and they already hate that i tell them. they say it’s private. they say my struggles are something personal. something to talk about with doctors but that no one else should have to know about.

some people are way more disabled than me, visibly disabled, disabled at first glance. some use mobility aids, full time or not. some have intellectual disabilities, some use an AAC device, some have a physical disability that cannot be concealed or an intellectual/developmental/mental disability that very obviously affects the way they move or communicate. some people don’t have a choice to mask or not to mask, don’t have a choice to be visibly disabled or not. strangers will immediately notice that these people are disabled, even without engaging in a conversation with them. and they hate it ! disabled people are supposed to be quiet and invisible and going outside with ear defenders or a mobility aid or anything, no matter if it is a small or a huge accommodation, is too much. but the bigger it is or the more you need help to do a ‘basic, easy’ thing, the worse it is. they stare at me in the street because of my ear defenders, but they don’t just stare when someone is in a wheelchair, they touch and break and don’t have any respect.

ableists think disabled people shouldn’t be in their way because they think we shouldn’t exist or that we are worthless. having an accommodation or an aid in public is already activism for them, already disturbing, already forcing them to see that they are privileged and that the world is not accessible.

to exist as a disabled person is beautiful. it’s brave. it’s something to be proud of. not because it’s inspiring that you are strong enough to live with your disability, not because "someone else would have killed themselves already in your situation," not because "i could never be like that ! you’re so courageous !", but because ableism is everywhere and it’s so hard to live in this world where they don’t want us to exist. it’s so hard to advocate for ourselves.

and for those who are not visibly disabled (like me), or at least not always ; for those who have low support needs ; for those who know how to mask : point out inaccessibility. force people to see their own ableism. make them uncomfortable. it’s also our job, our responsibility. if someone mocks me and calls me useless because i can’t do IADLs i say i’m disabled, stay very calm and inform them that many people are unable to perform BADLs without help and that they deserve just as much help and respect as anyone else. if someone points out how annoying my ear defenders are i ask why the place isn’t accessible for people in a wheelchair. etc etc. listen to people with higher support needs than you and amplify their voices. but also act irl.

we can all do better and force society to be better to.

and remember that accessibility for you doesn’t mean accessibility for everyone.

a place that accommodates sensory issues might not have accessible toilets. so it’s not good enough. an autism support group meeting has stim toys and ear defenders and happens in a quiet place ? that’s wonderful ! can a nonverbal person participate ? are caregivers welcome ? we can’t just think that "something is better than nothing." yes it is, but it’s not good enough. if a place or an event is accessible for one thing but not for something else, then it’s not accessible. and we need to be loud about it.

[stealingfromwoolworths]

Im gonna be a hater

I get that autism is a spectrum and all but Jesus Christ some of y’all need to realise that you are in a more privileged position by being low(er) support needs.

Even I, your local whiny bitch who has an army of aids everywhere I go (one is literally watching me type this), have significant privilege over autistic people who are non verbal, autistic people who are not smart, autistic people who live in poverty, autistic people who attend special schools, autistic people who have other disabilities ect.

I can recognise that my situation sucks and also recognise that I have the ability to read and write in two languages, speak (most of the time) English fluently, live decently with disability benefits as someone who is lower middle class and be able to exist within the public school system.

We cannot achieve full liberation for ourselves and other mentally disabled people if we cannot objectively realise that some of us have it worse. I’m so so so so so so so so tired of having to explain this over and over again.

And I love you guys so much but I swear to God a low functioning autistic person explaining how being autistic has worse affects on them and impairs their daily life in a more severe way then it does yours is not invalidating you.

Also a lot of you still have alot of anti autistic ableist sentiment because you are still able to present yourself to the world as neurotypical but let’s not unpack that today.

(NOT TALKING ABOUT ALL LOW SUPPORT NEEDS AUTISTICS‼️ IF THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOU ITS NOT ABOUT YOU‼️ IF TOU FEEL ATTACKED MAYBE YOU NEED TO EXPLORE THAT FEELING IDK)