#hsn autism

[neurodivergent-willow]

Stop saying "low masking" when you mean HSN

Stop saying comorbid ID when you mean HSN

Stop saying nonverbal autism when you mean HSN

Stop saying early dx when you mean HSN

Stop saying "high masking" when you mean LSN

Stop saying no comorbid ID when you mean LSN

Stop saying late dx when you mean LSN

Okay thank you

[stardew-bajablast]

the way a lot of y’all on this site hear “autism” and automatically assume whoever is speaking means “low support needs autism” is really weird and ableist. sorry it just is

[nonspeakingkiku]

(CW:TALK OF RELIGION, NOT IN DEPTH)

hi l'm making an oc that has level 2-3 autism and I was wondering if I could get you and some others critique since I have level 1 autism!/ genuine

Nir name is Azreler their pronouns are ne/nem plus any pronouns related to angels and stuff like that! and ne is angelkin!

Halo is technically speaking but very poorly,and trying to speak causes savior to feel very upset so heaven uses an AAC and cards to talk!

Heaven is recovering from dermatillomania, which was caused by not being able to redirect a harmful stim that involved obsesivlely picking at skin, hence the scars and dots.

Angel uses a wheelchair primarily but sometimes uses a cane.

Ne has 3 special interests:color theory (not art), chinchillas, and religion (mainly Christianity and Judaism)

This sounds like a cool OC. Kiku can't crutique right now because migraine, but Kiku didn't want this to sit in inbox and get forgotten.

[apologetically-teddy]

it’s not our genitals that make autism appear different from each other. it’s support levels. it’s the fact that autism is a spectrum. please look outside your experience. please stop alienating high support needs. i see the same argument over and over “girls don’t get diagnosed bc the DSM is for boys only” “80s/90s girls couldn’t get diagnosed because no one knew about female autism” “females present autism different”

female autism female autism FEMALE AUTISM i feel like an alien

[beeemmmooo]

There is some low key racism and transphobia that i see from certain high support needs autism communities and more prominent figures in said communities and people are scared to call it out

It feels like there is othering going on in such a way where people are complaining about how individuals with lesser support needs cause problems in and for people in hsn communities (which they do, don't get me wrong, and it's worth complaining about), and then this attitude is used to then turn a blind eye to some really nasty comments said about certain other minorities

Sometimes when offhanded comments are made about autistic people of a certain country/age/etc are made it is called out but other times it is just said entirely unchecked.

It genuinely disgusts me and make me want to avoid certain sites

[pixierainbows]

Pixie really not okay with new diagnosis .

Pixie not smart enough to understand it .

Pixie have hard time just remembering it . until something forces Pixie to remember , which every time is traumatic , meltdowns , Hit Pixie . hurt head .

Pixie be so very overwhelmed . Pixie DO NOT WANT this . And . Have hard time just try to trust guardian Wizard , just try believe . but . not can DO .

Just want it all go away . let Pixie just be only one . is just too too much for Pixie . Pixie too cognitively disabled for this . is NOT FAIR . head hurting all day all week all time 😭😭😭

[cripp-tid]

tbh i find autism so debilitating because it feels like no one takes the time to listen to us. the general population around in-person spaces forget that LSN/Level 1 autistic people exist, and the online spaces forget that HSN/Level 2-3 autistic people exist.

like i either get hit with the "but you don't look autistic" irl or the "ugh why cant that kid just learn to type right" online. and theyre ableist as hell in both directions!!!!!!!! they both uphold The Norm™

everyone either expects a fully nonverbal diagnosis-caught-early type of autist, or someone who has 0 neurodivergency based issues at all. make up your fucking mind????

as someone who isn't really sure where it falls on the support needs spectrum, both sides of this shit suck for different reasons.

just. don't be a dick to people who have different support needs. that's it, that's the post. someone needs more? less? exactly the same as you? does not fucking matter regardless and you better not make it into a Thing. I'm stealing your kneecaps. im foaming at the mouth. im going to throw a brick at you.

[stuffieautism]

wish people would acknowledge the middle ground between medium and high support needs more.

need someone to prepare every meal to me. help decide what to eat with me (if it is chosen for me, i will meltdown because of wrong thing. if have to choose on my own, will not ever eat), cook/find/heat food, put correct portion on plate, bring to my room with utensils and napkin, and make sure i am seated properly. then bring dishes back and clean them. if i do not have a caregiver i will not eat more than applesauce packets i keep in closet for emergency.

can wash myself with severe difficulty. but need someone to prepare the shower and get me ready. and can only handle it once a week.

need physical accomodations to put on clothes, and with them can. but need help to know what is appropriate to wear for the weather, to know to bring jacket, struggle putting on jacket, can’t do buttons and some zippers and ties, need help changing clothing when dirty or wet or else will have a meltdown. often have a meltdown because can’t take off outer layer fast enough struggling physically and overheat.

do not need help toileting most of the time, but have bladder issues and takes a long time and lose control and need others to keep the bathroom clear due to this. caregiver has to advocate no one else use the bathroom near my room.

need help moving between tasks, up and down stairs, changing rooms, otherwise too overwhelming. need people to find things because i have meltdowns looking for even a couple minutes and motor issues to struggle with carrying things.

can use internet on own, but need caregiver support almost every time because get confused or upset or not know how to respond/post/language.

can’t live alone. can’t be left completely alone. can’t go anywhere without a caregiver the whole time. need a lot of support. but while i can do part of the task myself, i would not be able to at all without a caregiver there at each time.

[gayaest]

what does (msn) mean for autism?

“Level 1 - Level 2 - Level 3” in the DSM.

(LSN) Low-Support needs, (MSN) Middle-Support needs, (HSN) High-support needs.

I was in special ed my entire life, as well as discovering (others) I was autistic was very early on (Kindergarten). I’ve always needed extra support specific to my autism, more than LSN autistics need (which is not to say they do not need support — all autistics need some type of support, this is just to help others know how much).

MSN, means that I need substantial help in my day-to-day life to be able to stay alive and functioning. I need a daily caregiver, someone to help me bathe, clothe, food, clean, etc. I wasn’t able to work, go to school myself without some type of accommodations and help from an “aid” or caregiver. I would never have been able to live alone even if I wasn’t physically disabled, because I was always mentally disabled (Autistic).

I just happen to have become physically disabled as well. My old therapist said that Autistic individuals have a higher chance of developing auto-immune disorders and disabilities due to the way the brain and body are connected and work. Especially if that coincides with severe and ongoing trauma, which causes the nervous system to “break down” and immune system to become, well… less immune.

I hope this makes sense, I spent like, 45 minutes writing this to make sure it sounded right.

[swordsonnet]

lately, i've seen more people in the online autistic community acknowledging the struggles of people with higher support needs, which is of course an important development. but for some, that seems to come with the implicit assumption that low needs autistics "have it easy" or experience no stigma at all, which is just wrong??? people with low support needs are still disabled by their autism and still face discrimination because of it. sure, they are impaired to a lesser degree than those with higher support needs, but that doesn't mean you can just erase their struggles, y'know?

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

“society not produce untramatized autistic”* crowd suddenly forget they ever say that when HSN autistic in front of them n it so very clear their idea of autistic trauma only include grow up undiagnosed, have needs n struggle dismissed (which to them only happen to LSN late dx btw), n forced be high masking. those very real trauma but my god there so many other ways

“HSN autism with mental health struggles” treated as brand new concept recent discover n HSN autistic with severe mental health struggles treated as this Special Subcategory of HSN autism That Need Special Considerations, even in (or especially in) research & with medical professionals. instead of like. realize it probably the norm. stick anyone in our body in our environment n don’t believe majority don’t develop severe mental health struggles, not to even talk about mental health struggles be autistic n esp HSN autism make you more susceptible to to start.

the visible mental health struggles are “just supportive evidence for such severe autism.” just meltdowns, just severe “unpredictable” behavioral issues that come on “suddenly” n “without reason,” just restrictive repetitive behaviors, just this just that

the non-visible mental health struggles or ones that can’t be made visible because HSN autism symptoms (think: can’t communicate by words, etc), well, they don’t exist. HSN autistics don’t have inside world, famously

(last two paragraph = sarcasm/mock)

(* : don’t think it untrue. just maybe more absolute than would put it)

It's a common idea amongst ALOT of LSN autistic people that HSN autistic people in general don't struggle with mental health, and that people who are HSN autistic are HSN because that's just the areas they ended up needing more support, and that it levels out and that in general LSN autistics struggle most in their mental health and HSN autistics struggle with other things.

It stems from peoples misunderstanding, and not wanting to accept there are people out there who have more support needs in every single area that they do, more severe in every single area.

But I'd argue someone who has such extreme sensory issues being in the presence of another person causes meltdowns that last hours on end, someone that needs to be restrained for hours a day or else will literally die, that's housbound due to extreme sensory issues, wants to die and has extreme sadness every single time there is a small change such as the light going on and off, but also does not have the skills to communicate anything to anyone so can never talk about how they feel and even as simple as if they feel unwell.

Struggles significantly more with their mental health than someone who simply dislikes their life and feels anxious, and those with more severe mental health problems as-well.

Someone with HSN autism and severe mental health problems can co exist, and I think alot of people seem to forget that. Someone can be HSN with all their needs met and still have a terrible quality of life.

[clownrecess]

(TW functioning labels, ableism, meltdowns, doctors, etc.)

I was diagnosed as autistic when I was 10, and I was more specifically diagnosed with "High functioning autism". The person my psychiatrist saw was me on easy days, on days when I was fully calm, on days when I could easily communicate, and had no other job than to sit and do what she told me to do.

She hadn't seen me go fully mute for months on end, she hadn't seen me fully unable to take care of my basic needs, she hadn't seen me have violent meltdowns, she hadn't seen me hit and bite myself because I couldn't identify my emotions, she hadn't seen me run into the street because I have nothing in my brain telling me not to, she hadn't seen me unable to change clothes for multiple days, she hadn't seen me only able to shower once a week, she hadn't seen me unable to properly exist in gened, she hadn't seen me have severe meltdowns over a change I liked just because I didnt expect it, she hadn't seen me put a small hole in a wall during a meltdown, she hadn't seen me as a full time AAC user, she hadn't seen me as a part time AAC user, she hadn't seen me unable to sleep without an intensely large amount of nightlights, she hadn't seen me unable to bathe myself until age 9 or 10, etc.

She saw me in a calm state, once every few months, on days when I could communicate easily and do what she asked. That is all she saw of me, her asking me questions, having me do things, and asking my mom questions.

If she saw me, and I was the way I described in front of her, my diagnosis would probably be closer to something like "moderate functioning autism".

But here's the thing, ON DIFFERENT DAYS, I FIT DIFFERENT CRITERIA FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF AUTISM DIAGNOSES.

My ability to "Function" varies so so much, and this makes functioning labels extremely inaccurate.

Now, let's use support needs to describe me. I am a person who's support needs fluctuate from med-high. I have med-high support needs. This is accurate for me, and it is not ableist.

I wanted to talk about this to describe how functioning labels suck, and also to talk about how support needs fluctuate; and that is okay.

[fagtionnow]

HSN autistics have interests and personalities. we're looked at as if we just commit nonsense.

I'm mostly talking about level 3 autistics. I'm a level 2 M-HSN autistic but I see the way people look at my classmates who are level 3. and I also see the way people look at me when they become aware of how much care I require.

Needing more care or having different or even a lack of understanding of communication does not mean we don't have preferences. "Mindless babbles" sound a lot more like communication when you LISTEN.

You see me stimming and using my AAC device, you hear me quietly yelling non words. so now I am not interesting. I am not interested, either. thats what leople assume about HSN autistics. that because we are different we don't have care or things to offer up.

I have interests. I have hobbies.

And so does that level 3 kid in the back of the SPED room being neglected.

Stop dehumanizing HSN people. and I know I don't even have the worst of it.

[dreamdropsystem]

fr it's disgusting were thrown to the side

[pixierainbows]

More tiny paintings for Art show with Pixie's art studio for artists with IDD

[sickly-sapphic]

autistics who feel isolated from the autistic community for whatever reason ily