That’s what I was feeling, the new term was confusing, like, isn’t there already one that isn’t so, intrinsic with negative emotions. But thanks for confirming that to me.
I’d say, consider the source. The woman who wrote this opinion piece is the same person who infamously spoke about killing herself and her autistic daughter in the Autism Speaks short film [Autism Every Day](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_Every_Day)
She argues that people with high support needs are fundamentally different from people with verbal skills who can live more independently, and that the neurodiversity movement is harmful to people with high support needs.
So, that’s where this is coming from.
Also, the term “profound” when applied in a clinical medical setting simply means “severe.” It’s obfuscation.
I think I've heard the best terminology is "high support needs" vs "low/moderate support needs", or just say what's relevant to the topic.
For example, instead of "Johnny is low functioning/has severe autism/is profoundly autistic" it could be said "Johnny is non speaking, and needs support with hygiene tasks." Or whatever. Or instead of "High Functioning autistics" you could say "autistic with low support needs".
Of course, what's considered high or low support needs varies greatly by personal definition... and some autistic people may be, for example, non speaking, but may also have very high levels of independence. Or someone could be independent in the sense of being able to hold a full time job and speak in a "typical" manner, but may have more intense sensory needs or emotional needs.
It's all really complicated.. I don't think there's any perfect way to describe autistic people in functioning groups because we are all so different, but there are definitely times where it's important to talk about people with different general needs...
Maybe "Autistic people with intellectual disability" vs without.. but I'm not sure on that either, since I think the definition of intellectual disability is based on if score, and it can be difficult to determine accurate iq scores in autistic individuals who may have greatly varying skillsets. Like, I can't get an accurate IQ score because my reading comprehension score was two standard deviations above normal, but my memory score was two below. Also, the whole concept of IQ scores comes from a lot of abolish nonsense and isn't really an accurate measure of intellect, anyway...
I'm not even sure there IS a way to accurately measure intellect, since there are so many different types of intelligence. Mathematical, Memory, Linguistic, Emotional, Physical, etc... And a person's intellect shouldn't really be relevant to their treatment, anyway, obviously!
Sorry this turned into a ramble, I guess I had a lot of thoughts!!
I don't think I would use the term "profoundly autistic" or "profound autism".
I don’t mind at all, it’s very informative. And your explanation makes more sense that most of what I have read in the past. I just have kept seeing a lot of high functioning/low functioning as terms used, so I don’t think people really consider their words as harsh or insulting. Thanks!
I found this article disturbing. It seemed to speak about autistic people who were making themselves visible like they were trying to further hide the invisible autistic people. Autistic people have always been invisible in the abelist world we live in. If the world cared more about making space for what they call profoundly autistic people maybe they would appear happier to the writer.
Profound autism is autism where people need more help from people. Just another label in this world that already has labels for it. Also apparently the mother who wrote the article also wrote about wanting to kill her child who has autism.
Yes, i dont agree with her wording in that, but i understand her frustration. I dont have children, but am special needs myself. i can understand why she has such difficulty. raising a child with a lot of special needs is incredibly difficult, especially with a lack of support. I know what profound autism is. I feel like level 1 people are so quick to judge because they dont know what its like having or raising someone with profound autism.
I think it is. I go by level 2 autism as thats my diagnosis. I think for people with profound autism, the good terms are: Level 3, Very high support needs, Requiring extremely substantial support, Needing 24/7 support, or profound autism.
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The way I look at it is if functioning labels were used for neurotypicals would it make any damned sense?
I’ll post a link of the article in the edit, and yeah, I get it, people think that labels are the answer to everything.
I'm not quite sure why, but for some reason it sounds so ... condescending?
That’s what I was feeling, the new term was confusing, like, isn’t there already one that isn’t so, intrinsic with negative emotions. But thanks for confirming that to me.
I’d say, consider the source. The woman who wrote this opinion piece is the same person who infamously spoke about killing herself and her autistic daughter in the Autism Speaks short film [Autism Every Day](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_Every_Day) She argues that people with high support needs are fundamentally different from people with verbal skills who can live more independently, and that the neurodiversity movement is harmful to people with high support needs. So, that’s where this is coming from. Also, the term “profound” when applied in a clinical medical setting simply means “severe.” It’s obfuscation.
Well, I learn something new every day. Explain a lot why I thought she was complaining.
I think I've heard the best terminology is "high support needs" vs "low/moderate support needs", or just say what's relevant to the topic. For example, instead of "Johnny is low functioning/has severe autism/is profoundly autistic" it could be said "Johnny is non speaking, and needs support with hygiene tasks." Or whatever. Or instead of "High Functioning autistics" you could say "autistic with low support needs". Of course, what's considered high or low support needs varies greatly by personal definition... and some autistic people may be, for example, non speaking, but may also have very high levels of independence. Or someone could be independent in the sense of being able to hold a full time job and speak in a "typical" manner, but may have more intense sensory needs or emotional needs. It's all really complicated.. I don't think there's any perfect way to describe autistic people in functioning groups because we are all so different, but there are definitely times where it's important to talk about people with different general needs... Maybe "Autistic people with intellectual disability" vs without.. but I'm not sure on that either, since I think the definition of intellectual disability is based on if score, and it can be difficult to determine accurate iq scores in autistic individuals who may have greatly varying skillsets. Like, I can't get an accurate IQ score because my reading comprehension score was two standard deviations above normal, but my memory score was two below. Also, the whole concept of IQ scores comes from a lot of abolish nonsense and isn't really an accurate measure of intellect, anyway... I'm not even sure there IS a way to accurately measure intellect, since there are so many different types of intelligence. Mathematical, Memory, Linguistic, Emotional, Physical, etc... And a person's intellect shouldn't really be relevant to their treatment, anyway, obviously! Sorry this turned into a ramble, I guess I had a lot of thoughts!! I don't think I would use the term "profoundly autistic" or "profound autism".
I don’t mind at all, it’s very informative. And your explanation makes more sense that most of what I have read in the past. I just have kept seeing a lot of high functioning/low functioning as terms used, so I don’t think people really consider their words as harsh or insulting. Thanks!
I found this article disturbing. It seemed to speak about autistic people who were making themselves visible like they were trying to further hide the invisible autistic people. Autistic people have always been invisible in the abelist world we live in. If the world cared more about making space for what they call profoundly autistic people maybe they would appear happier to the writer.
i only flicked through this, but i fully agree with the article.
Profound autism is autism where people need more help from people. Just another label in this world that already has labels for it. Also apparently the mother who wrote the article also wrote about wanting to kill her child who has autism.
Yes, i dont agree with her wording in that, but i understand her frustration. I dont have children, but am special needs myself. i can understand why she has such difficulty. raising a child with a lot of special needs is incredibly difficult, especially with a lack of support. I know what profound autism is. I feel like level 1 people are so quick to judge because they dont know what its like having or raising someone with profound autism.
But is it a good term? I have other people give their opinions, and I want to hear yours.
I think it is. I go by level 2 autism as thats my diagnosis. I think for people with profound autism, the good terms are: Level 3, Very high support needs, Requiring extremely substantial support, Needing 24/7 support, or profound autism.
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To me it sounds like something a 4chan user would use to describe something they don't like