I Don't deny the validity of autism I'm just concerned that people on the high end spectrum are invalidating the diagnosis and diluting it for those who really do struggle on the more extreme end.

No offence, but it's called a Spectrum for a reason (high to low), but Autistic people think differently to us whichever end of the spectrum they're on (with many of them attempting to act normal to avoid ridicule.

​@@beckysharpe7268Everyone is struggling. How do you know whether everyone is masking. There is no such thing as neurotypical. Autism is not hidden. Most people mask their struggles. It is a disability for those who cannot mask.

Calling us "high functioning/low functioning/mildly/severely autistic" doesn't tell the whole story of our NEEDS and those labels are based on outdated data. It also sets up a hierarchy that leads to harmful mistreatment, discrimination and stigma. Functioning labels isolate people on the spectrum from our non autistic peers by implying we're defective. These labels erase our humanity, individuality, intellect, challenges, abilities, "otherize", isolate us and emphasize some inherent malfunction, much how one would refer to a malfunctioning device. If you see how society treats people with functioning labels, you see how people who are labeled as low-functioning tend to be heavily stigmatized, infantilized, devalued and dismissed SPECIFICALLY due to their inability to communicate verbally and socialize in "neurotypical" ways.

High, low,, middle of the spectrum? That's not what the spectrum signifies. It means that we can have any configuration of high, low or mid assistance need where a combination of self care, self regulation, cognition, language skills, etc are concerned. When we know better, we should do better. It's like the term Asperger's. It's used less frequently now because Hans Asperger cooperated extensively with the Nazi regime and may have sent dozens of children to their deaths. He was a part of a eugenics plan against people on the spectrum. Once we are aware how information and terms harm people, that's when we should choose the compassionate route and find more humanizing language. The medical community is notorious for using dehumanizing language towards people with developmental disorders. That doesn't make it right. It means they need to catch up and listen to the people who are actually living with autism. When my cousin who is around my age was first diagnosed before autism was a widely known diagnosis, they labeled her as mentally r*tarded. That term for the most part is no longer used because they began to listen to people like us and see how language can be harmful. Often times, people on the spectrum have no people on the spectrum to advocate for them. Caring for a child on the spectrum doesn't mean parents understand firsthand about their lived experiences anymore than a father of a daughter will understand the lived experiences she has living as a girl. Autistic people described as ‘high functioning’ because they do not have intellectual disability often still struggle with daily living and executive functions. Individuals such as myself and my son labeled high functioning often have poor ‘adaptive behavior’ - the ability to perform basic tasks such as brushing teeth, tying shoelacesstirring food, discerning left from right or taking the bus. The term high functioning completely disregards the difficulties we as individuals have on a day-to-day basis. We are often classified as high functioning if we have high intelligence quotients or excel academically. But neither of those traits can be taken to mean we excel in other facets of our lives. A low functioning diagnoses can tell us nothing about intelligence, actual thought process or creativity. For years, we as autistic people have objected to the label, as well as its counterpart, ‘low functioning,’ because these terms do not reflect how much SUPPORT we actually need. The loudest calls to abandon those terms are from self-advocates in the autism community. While IQ, the ability to effectively communicate and language processing are often correlated with functional ability, it’s actually a really weak predictor of the level of the daily living skills we as individuals have. I didn't speak until I was five but I taught myself to read beginning at 18 months old. I didn't like to be held and I excelled when I was allowed to explore unassisted. I have sensory aversions to touch, smell, light and sound. I stim. I experienced isolation as a child because of my communication difficulties I had a difficult time reading facial cues, maintaining eye contact. People on the spectrum live in a constant space where we're forced to perform as close to neurotypical norms as humanly possible and mask any behaviors that code us as on the spectrum.

now she says she has tourettes is she self diagnosing?

...and you are an expert in the field how?

​@@katharinegates2917 Pretending to be somebody in say acting doesn't mean they have autism

Who's 'they'

@@helencharnock3436 Theirs sister

Hallelujah thank you for your wonderful comment 👏

Well said.

Diagnosis of ASD helps us to understand WHY we have difficulties with certain things (social interaction, sensory overload, literal and bottom-up thinking) while we may be very good at other things. No, there has not been an increase in Autism, there has been a major change in how we understand neurodivergency.

Oh yeah labels are absolutely not needed... sorry you said you were a nurse?? Isn't that a label? Of course 'labels' are required! I am saddened by the fact that someone in the medical profession thinks this way. I was diagnosed as having ADHD and autism at the age of 42 and 43 respectively and it has made me understand myself more and accept myself more. I am now kinder to myself as I know the reasons why I struggle in many areas and then excell in others. I would encourage you to do some research on neurodiversity as it will really help you become a better nurse and human.

Also the sudden unexplainable increase is completely unexplainable. People weren't diagnosed in their childhood simply because neurodiversity wasn't understood as well as it is now. When I was at school ADHD meant the naughty boy at the back of the class acting a fool, not the little girl at the front twiddling her hair and always forgetting to do her homework. It just wasn't known about. Generations of mostly women but also a lot of men too were missed and carried on struggling through life. Social media has played a big part in educating society (although you do need to be careful who you are getting information from of course) and people who have struggled are having a light bulb moment. They're not just dishing out diagnoses like sweets, the numbers are just out there.

We do all have flaws that can be worked on, such as working on our own discomfort when we see disabled people ie ableism. We don't all have neurological developmental conditions like autism, which can't be changed and that mean someone experiences the world in a completely different way to the vast majority (c80%), and for whom seeing very occasional mainstream representation like this is hugely validating.

You may also see a lot of neurodiversity in the arts industry as a lot of neurodiverse people are incredibly creative !

Agree 100%. They revel in it all.

Neurodiverse is different to mentally ill which is what you may be with a view like this. Hope you get the help you need. The world is becoming more tolerant and accepting.

She says it's not a deficiency. It's just how they see the world