understanding the spectrum

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OP,
what is being described is called splinter skills,sorry to link to yahoo answers but someones done a very good simple definition of it-
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/i ... 6041302900

the whole concept of LFA and HFA is not to do with individual issues of functioning but overall functioning caused by either to low an IQ [the intelectual disability spectrum] and anywhere above that point.

an aspie/HFA may be good at one thing but bad at another,however their individual functional weak points arent caused by the functioning limitations of intelectual disability,its usualy caused by issues such as severe executive dysfunction, anxiety, low self esteem, never having been taught coping skills, high expectations from those around them, not enough support etc,those are more to do with the severity side of HFA than overall functioning itself,having severe HFA for example will clash with emulating a normie life and anyone who tries to conform is setting themselves up to fail,as HFAs are expected to follow a NT blue print of living [eg, get friends,go higher education,get a career, get married,have kids etc] and when a HFA doesnt meet these standards autistic people are taught by society to think theyre not functioning, theyre functioning just not according to the blue print of normieism.

society has a hand in causing a lot of impairment for people in the spectrum so it isnt necesarily that someone cant function but is caused by the barriers of societys ignorance and lack of adaption and understanding,AKA the social model of disability.

How is autism not a single condition?....autism is autism no matter how you slice it. Of course individuals with it are going to have differences some might have worse sensory issues than others, some might be non-verbal, some might start talking at a normal age, some might be great at math, some might suck at it some can make eye contact, some can't....so even though there are differences between people with autism and we aren't all effected the same by it doesn't imply that its not one condition.

I don't think the word spectrum was chosed to sound 'sciencey' to me it makes perfect sense in the context that some people are more severely effected by autism than others....and then leaves room for everything in between. I think the over-all functioning is more based on how the autism interferes with functioning it does not leave out the possibility of being high functioning in some areas and low functioning in others but it is about over-all functioning. For instance if I had to describe my functioning level based on the autism alone, I'd probably define myself as moderate functioning I did well acedemically in school, I don't have any sort of intellectual disability...but I have executive function difficulties, difficulties with processing like processing things slow, sensory issues to the point a half hour in wal-mart for instance gives me a brain dead/uncomfortable/anxious feeling and then I have to leave, I am able to interact with people to a certain extent but I have difficulty initiating interaction unless its someone I know rather well, don't make eye contact...even if I make an effort then I can't understand what is being said because I am focusing on that...and I can't pass as 'normal' even for a short period of time. Now add my co-morbid disorders and I am sure I fall below moderate functioning.

Dr. Temple Grandin compares it to a sound board. From what I remember of what she said is that for every person some switches are all the way on, some that are off and some that can be anywhere in between, meaning that some people with autism can have some of one trait, non of another, and all of another trait.

With the understanding of autism here I don't think the so called professionals have a clue.

Why some of these so called professional get paid as much as they do is beyond me. I know there are a lot of real professionals out there who do know what they are talking about and I wish there were more of them but there are also a lot of them who should find other employment in my opinion!

Autism is a word. That word is used to describe the complex set of interrelated symptoms you describe, as well as other things. Whether you consider it a "single condition" or not is largely a matter of semantics, terminology and personal opinion. What I mean is that it is complicated. A person has the flu if he has the flu symptoms and it is caused by the flu virus. A person is left-handed if she mostly uses its left hand. Hell, even depression is easy to describe and diagnose compared to autism. But almost nobody could put forward a concrete definition of autism that fits in one short sentence and with whom everyone agrees.



If that was the only point, they could have used a simpler word, such as "scale". When you speak about a scale, people immediately understand the meaning : something that can vary in a continuous way from a minimum to a maximum. But... autism is more complicated than that, right? You can't just classify people as "more" or "less" autistic and have an accurate, comprehensive description of their condition just with that measure. So my hypothesis is that some people figured you needed a more complicated word, such as "spectrum".



I completely agree with you on that (and the rest of your answer), but I don't see how that make the word "spectrum" really appropriate.

Well, if you could define the various "dimensions" of autism and evaluate people on them, the word would actually make sense, but in a different way that the word is used right now. Everyone would have an "autism spectrum", which is the way his individual behaviour projects on the autism "dimensions". A bit like the radar charts that are output by some pupular test.

^This exactly. Well said.

@Jensen: thanks for the vids. I have bookmarked LD.org.

I like that he still discusses "Asperger's Syndrome" in its own category, no matter what the DSM-V says.

I have studied psychology in the past and, when it comes to "autism spectrum disorders", there is often a dearth of information on the subject--whoever said that the "experts" often aren't may be correct in some cases.

From just these two vids, I am starting to think that I may be a crossover between AS and NVLD...and maybe the "labels" don't matter--just note what I need to work on and do that.

It makes me understand a bit better too, because I can´t fully identify with anything yet.