In your perspective do I appear HFA or LFA?

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I created this video because I think the message is important. But, in this case, I'm curious about how I appear to people other than my own mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgKjDE7DFFc

Last edited by SuperTrouper on 02 Oct 2011, 7:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I am familiar with the It Gets Better Project. I am a big fan of Dan Savage (sex advice columnist, openly gay man and father) who started this.

I really liked your video. I am a parent of a child on the autism spectrum. I have a few traits myself. This type of sharing reminds me that my son has a wonderful life ahead of him. I will still try to help him learn and relate to others. But I will always respect that he will always be autistic and I want him to be true to himself and happy with himself as an autistic person. Hearing adults who are autistic share their successes is inspiring for both parents and children/youth.

Thank you.

If only there were more parents like you! Your attitude is awesome. Thank you.

Where on the spectrum do I appear to fall?

I have better days than this and worse... this is more somewhere in the middle of how I appear.

Having seen other videos of you, and knowing what limited info I do know about you, I would say you are probably on the severe high-functioning end, with the severe anxiety you've said somewhere else that you have putting you into a MFA category much of the time. Just my opinion.

I find it odd that people think I'm less affected when I can speak... even though I actually say a heck of a lot more and make more sense when I use AAC.

Basically, I think I have HFA and LFA traits. I just don't know what to say I have! Both seem misleading. So does MFA. Come to think of it, this is why I generally don't use functioning labels... because I'm a human with wildly varying traits. I just was curious as to what other people saw.

Did I say this? This is not what I meant at all.

What I said (and meant) was that I think you have HFA (but severe)--the reason being is not only that you can talk sometimes (and I never said I thought you were more severe when you are non-verbal, btw), but also the fact that you have a degree and can drive, etc. You are not mild, but HFA does not mean mild. There are HFA people who are severe. I think autism-wise, you are probably at a very similar "level" as myself. With the anxiety that you've mentioned previously that you had, I would say that puts you at a MF level.

Sorry- no, you didn't say that at all. I was just thinking out loud. Commenting. That's me and my brain, jumping around... I do it a lot. Didn't mean to confuse you.

I actually don't drive anymore due to regressions. I don't work or use my degree in any way, and there's no WAY I could even take college classes now. I've lost a lot of skills recently. In fact, I don't even cross the street or enter a store or get the mail without someone with me. Too great a chance of wandering, getting hit by a car, or being taken advantage of.

That second paragraph is close to what I was going to say - you are definitely severe and not mild by any means.

I find that the only thing that is usually impacted when I can't speak is that I can't speak. And when I can speak, like you said, sometimes it's hard to make a lot of sense. Sometimes it's part of a larger issue and a lot of things are affected at once, but that happens both with and without losing speech along with it.

So when ask, "How affected are you?" or "What kind of autism do you have?" do I say... ugh. What do I say?! "It totally depends on the day." ???

That sounds like a good response to me. The reality is that autism affects most autistics more or less "depending on the day", and if yours varies, then why not say that?

I understand where you are coming from---especially with it depending on the day. Some days things seem to flow easily, and others seem like trying to walk through brick walls. I started a dulcimer music ministry in 2008. I play various folk instruments and speak some on my autism (I have Asperger's) so as to let people understand a bit more about me and the autism spectrum. I enjoy this music ministry. But sometimes that can be challenging when the mood isn't right for me. I just have to take a deep breath and jump into it. My therapist helped me with this by having me script out things ahead of time. Before saying something, I often script it in my head first, and then I say it. I also use notes when I speak.

The autism support group I am involved in (a group for children with autism---my youngest son has autism) sometimes has speakers in. I enjoy listening to them and seeing how they communicate to audiences. We have also had an autistic marimba player give us a concert. I feel fortunate where I live because we have such a great autism support group here in southern Ohio---and they try to stay active.

If you can get to south, central OH, I'm speaking for the Autism Project of Souther Ohio on Nov 5th in Portsmouth