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hi !!! i’ve been seeing alot of misinformation regarding the ‘spectrum’ part of autism, so i thought i’d try to educate the audience on what it Actually means!
this is the typical way most people will imagine a spectrum. that applies here too. and it is completely wrong. this line shows one end: ‘low functioning’, and the other end: ‘high functioning’, and then every ‘functioning’ in between.
these labels are wrong, and harmful.
1. each of these labels, regardless of what ‘functioning’ you are, feels bad. being told you can’t function sucks ass, but being perceived like ure perfectly fine at functioning sucks ass too, bc it just shows how you’ve perfected masking.
1. each of these labels, regardless of what ‘functioning’ you are, feels bad. being told you can’t function sucks ass, but being perceived like ure perfectly fine at functioning sucks ass too, bc it just shows how you’ve perfected masking.
2. they are incredibly innacurate. autism is not the same experience for everyone, and implying that it all exists on one line, just that each and every autistic person experiences this one thing at different levels... is very wrong and why so many ppl go without a diagnosis!
this is the way the autism spectrum REALLY is. the spectrum is different for every single autistic person. my best understanding of this is with a soundboard (see image) which i’ll explain further in the next few tweets.
the spectrum, contrary to popular belief, is not a linear one, nor is it the be all, end all of how autism works. every autistic person has their own spectrum, where each and every individual trait has its own little slider on a soundboard
for each person, the settings on these sliders will be different. someone may have a really high slider on their sensory issues, but only half way for special interests. while it would be different for someone else.
these sliders can also change depending on the day! my sensory processing gets way worse when i’m put in a new situation as change stresses me out! this can happen for everyone, for example someone may go nonverbal on a day associated with a bad memory
sooo... yea! tldr the autism spectrum isn’t a linear line of high and low functioning, its an in depth and detailed soundboard that is individual to every different autistic person, and they can shift and change with time and circumstance :]
