ASD1? 2? And 3?

[vergil96]

The best I've been able to figure out is through learning enough about yourself and your requirements/reactions to prevent it. Once I'm burnt out, it's too late and I can only pick up the pieces.

Self-knowledge is the greatest tool, in my experience, especially knowing about ASD and how it affects each of us in particular.

Prevention is the only way, in my experience. I need to remember to focus on maintaining stability. Checking in with myself to catch the early warning signs of burnout (which it's taken me SO long to learn). And taking "mental health vacations" periodically in order to restore my peace.

It's a mystery to me what burns me out apart from erratic schedules, multitasking, travels and unnecesary participation in large social events.

 

[Kavigant]

It's a mystery to me what burns me out apart from erratic schedules, multitasking, travels and unnecesary participation in large social events.

Your list looks a lot like mine!

 

[FayetheAspie]

ASD2 was on my report card. But, strangely enough, I got a score of 39, which level 2 stops at 38 and Level 3 starts at 40. So, I consider I am hovering between 2 and 3.

I am not able to work; I am not able to associate for long; I need routine, otherwise, I get too stressed.

I do also have bad agoraphobia and the only time I can go out on my own, is very early in the morning, to go to our local bin, which is only across the road from our home.

I guess I would be considered as anti social. But, I do like people when they are nice. Just too many are not.

@Suzanne What are the scores from (autism quotient test)?

 

[Suzanne]

@Suzanne What are the scores from (autism quotient test)?

I live in France and when I was diagnosed, which was in late 2019, level one is considered mild, without needing help ie the person can function perfectly normally. Level two: is moderate with needing help and level three is severe with needs constant help.

 

[FayetheAspie]

@Suzanne I was referring to the numbers like 38 ,40 ,ect. I thought maybe those were the autism quotient test numbers. We use asd level 1,2,or 3 here too. They did not assign me a level so I was curious if there was a test I could take on my own that shows what level.

 

[jsilver256]

@Suzanne I was referring to the numbers like 38 ,40 ,ect. I thought maybe those were the autism quotient test numbers. We use asd level 1,2,or 3 here too. They did not assign me a level so I was curious if there was a test I could take on my own that shows what level.

AQ isn't correlated to level as far as I know. In fact there might be an inverse correlation because a level 3 would typically have an intellectual disability in even completing the test.

There is no "level" test online. Levels are based on support needs. Support needs and levels can change over a lifetime. It does not define your "autism-ness." Support needs probably have a higher correlation to IQ than to "autism-ness," IMHO.

I'd be curious why you are specifically interested in getting an ASD2 diagnosis. Do you believe it'll validate your struggles? Or do you need financial aid?

 

[FayetheAspie]

AQ isn't correlated to level as far as I know. In fact there might be an inverse correlation because a level 3 would typically have an intellectual disability in even completing the test.

There is no "level" test online. Levels are based on support needs. Support needs and levels can change over a lifetime. It does not define your "autism-ness." Support needs probably have a higher correlation to IQ than to "autism-ness," IMHO.

I'd be curious why you are specifically interested in getting an ASD2 diagnosis. Do you believe it'll validate your struggles? Or do you need financial aid?

@jsilver256 Simply curiosity because it seems like my iq scores are like a lot of level 1 people (high) but yet it seems like I have a lot of traits that most level 1 people do not. Most level 1 people I know of drive ,are married (or at least have started dating),manage their own paperwork, ect. Most of them do not rock so consistently and noticeably that people referrence rain man before ever hearing about their diagnosis either. It seems like such references for others are in response to hearing about their autism not because of recognizing the rocking and some of the mannerisms. I do not really have anything I am looking for other than to understand where I fit in. Hoping for a couple of real life similar age friends I guess. It seems that even a lot of level 1 autistics mock me at times in real life. I tend to get along great with the lower functioning individuals that I have encountered on occasion even if it seems that my general iq is higher than theirs and I can definitely speak in more elaborate sentences.

 

[vergil96]

I wasn't given a level either, just "Asperger's"

@Suzanne I was referring to the numbers like 38 ,40 ,ect. I thought maybe those were the autism quotient test numbers. We use asd level 1,2,or 3 here too. They did not assign me a level so I was curious if there was a test I could take on my own that shows what level.

The "levels" are given by diagnosticians and there is no test. It seems arbitrary very often. I have a friend who was given 1 and didn't graduate high school, and his girlfriend is 2, and she has a degree in psychology and seems more socially skilled, but she struggles with food and allergies a lot, as far as I know, loses things in her own home and struggles with hearing.

 

[Outdated]

The "levels" are given by diagnosticians and there is no test. It seems arbitrary very often.

This is where a lot of people trick themselves by doing online tests and quizzes, they think that those results will bear some sort relevance to an actual diagnosis.

The levels 1, 2 and 3 have no bearing on how autistic you are. They are an indicator of how much support diagnosticians believe you will need in order to live a relatively happy life. In countries with poor welfare systems those levels bear no relevance whatsoever.

My ASD2 designation labels me as a person in need of substantial support - that means I got a pension and never have to work again.

 

[vergil96]

My ASD2 designation labels me as a person in need of substantial support - that means I got a pension and never have to work again.

I've seen ASD-2 being given to people who suffer from sensory overwhelm and sensory issues that interfere with their life a lot. I'm speaking of adults. They are supposed to be provided accommodations e.g. by employers, but a person who declares needs, especially requiring more one on one time from other employees, a separate room with more space and/or expensive objects is considered a liability and it might make someone less employable in the first place to declare such needs.

 

[Outdated]

I've seen ASD-2 being given to people who suffer from sensory overwhelm and sensory issues that interfere with their life a lot. I'm speaking of adults. They are supposed to be provided accommodations e.g. by employers, but a person who declares needs, especially requiring more one on one time from other employees, a separate room with more space and/or expensive objects is considered a liability and it might make someone less employable in the first place to declare such needs.

That goes for all disabilities, not just autism. I've also been the one doing the hiring and firing and I've made exactly the same decisions myself.

And when I was applying for jobs I always hid my disabilities because showing them means no one wants you. Not just autistic traits either. When I was in my early 20s I destroyed a knee snow skiing and had no choice but to give up an extremely well paid job because I was no longer capable of doing that job.

That meant I had to find a new job and if I walked in to a place limping that would mean no jobs for me. In a way it was good, I had to learn how to walk properly again.

 

[jsilver256]

it seems like I have a lot of traits that most level 1 people do not

I empathize. To use an analogy:

At my level of deafness and muteness, the employment statistics are extremely bleak and rates of disability assistance are high. I automatically qualify for a pension, anytime, separately of any autism.

But there are people with much more mild levels of deafness and who can speak, who are on pension.

It doesn't make me less deaf that I work. Likewise, it doesn't make me less autistic that I work (and thus qualify for ASD1 under most metrics). It also gets a lot blurry, e.g., I cannot do about 99.5% of jobs but I excel in the 0.5% of jobs that I can do, so should my disability be measured by my success in what I can do, or by what I can't do?

But it definitely does feel invalidating sometimes not having my struggle "seen."

 

[Outdated]

It doesn't make me less deaf that I work. Likewise, it doesn't make me less autistic that I work (and thus qualify for ASD1 under most metrics).

In Australia your deafness and any other issues you might have get taken in to account before giving you a designation, so under our system you would most certainly be ranked as ASD2 even if autism itself only has a minimal impact on your life.

 

[jsilver256]

In Australia your deafness and any other issues you might have get taken in to account before giving you a designation, so under our system you would most certainly be ranked as ASD2 even if autism itself only has a minimal impact on your life.

The biggest irony is that I credit my autism for being able to work in the first place. Jobs which would accommodate a totally deaf + mute person aren't exactly plentiful. These also happen to be the kind of jobs which would accommodate autism, too.

 

[vergil96]

100% agree.

I think I forgot to highlight the point I was trying to make. They might assess someone as having certain needs, but it doesn't mean it will be put into practice or can be put into practice.

Often other people aren't performing great either just because humans aren't very efficient and skilled, everyone has their own problems, lacks in skills, and fatigue is a factor too. Asking for help is within the norm too. So there is no need to declare beforehand that you're going to perform not as good as expected or declared, because most people don't.

That meant I had to find a new job and if I walked in to a place limping that would mean no jobs for me. In a way it was good, I had to learn how to walk properly again.

I don't think I could ever hide some things tbh, like my issues with hearing, but if you act as if it's a no-problem, others will perceive it that way too. It's not the degree of deafness that would be considered a disability in terms of special education or to not be able to do most jobs, though. It's rather mild (although I need some degree of accomodations and it's annoying and sometimes isolating), obviously someone with more profound hearing problems might not be able to act as if it's a "no-problem".

I think I wouldn't mention sensory overwhelm as a problem to deal with, though.

Many people work less hours than written on their contracts, for example, because if they do what they're supposed to do in a shorter time, nobody's chasing them. If you said that during the hiring process, it could constitute a problem, though. It's all about the context. During the hiring process, you're putting the accent on the negative this way, and the company doesn't know you or your positive sides yet. Most people applying offer overly optimistic self-descriptions, that is also the context, so you need to show yourself in a positive light as well to not stand out and to not communicate that the negatives are an optimistic description of you.

 

[Outdated]

I just thought I should mention another aspect of diagnosis and rankings. It's more to do with welfare and support than anything else, most adults that apply for a diagnosis are doing so because they want disability benefits when they can't work. Fair enough, I did exactly the same.

But to qualify for disability payments you have to have acceptable medical evidence of injury or disability. With any of the "mental disability" cases they want to know what treatment you are getting and an estimated recovery date, they treat it much the same as if you broke a hip and you're going through rehab. They want you off their books as soon as possible. This means you have to continually submit updates on your progress and they'll keep continually reassessing your eligibility for payments.

Autism has a special designation. Life long, untreatable.

That negates a lot of mucking around on my behalf. I'm on the books permanently with no need of reassessment. I'm still allowed to work if I want, there's a sliding scale where the more I earn the less they'll pay me but no matter what I'm listed with them as disabled for life and I never have to be reassessed, I never have to reapply. It's all automated through our tax system.

 

[jsilver256]

I don't think I could ever hide some things tbh, like my issues with hearing, but if you act as if it's a no-problem, others will perceive it that way too

For me, by and far the biggest impact of being deaf is not being able to understand what others are saying. It seems to me you're already "most of the way there" if you are unable to understand what others are saying. Might be useful to start self-identifying as hard-of-hearing as that is a designation which is immediately understood.

 

[Outdated]

I don't think I could ever hide some things tbh, like my issues with hearing, but if you act as if it's a no-problem, others will perceive it that way too. It's not the degree of deafness that would be considered a disability in terms of special education or to not be able to do most jobs, though. It's rather mild (although I need some degree of accomodations and it's annoying and sometimes isolating), obviously someone with more profound hearing problems might not be able to act as if it's a "no-problem".

I actually thought of you when I mentioned my knee. You mentioned in another thread that you can also ignore pain and damage and force the appearance of normal function.

I think I had an advantage in knowing I was a bit weird but not knowing a word for it. In job interviews I always went on the hard sell but also as an honest straight talker. Naturally it has to start with "This is what I can do for you and this is what I think I'm worth". After that it gets down to looking at your character and what any of your shortcomings might be, and I'd tell them straight up that I'm not a very social person and I just want to work, I'm not interested in social clubs and christmas parties.

That usually went down fairly well, an understandable attitude in a trade environment anyway. But it was tough luck if it didn't go down well because if they wanted me to behave like the rest of them then it would be another job that I only had for two weeks while I kept looking elsewhere. There were lots of those.

I wasn't just being honest to them, I was being honest to myself. I got to know myself pretty well over the years.

[Edit] "There were lots of those." I called them stepping stones, just kept going from one to the next until I found places where I fitted well.

 

[FayetheAspie]

Often other people aren't performing great either just because humans aren't very efficient and skilled, everyone has their own problems, lacks in skills, and fatigue is a factor too. Asking for help is within the norm too. So there is no need to declare beforehand that you're going to perform not as good as expected or declared, because most people don't.

I have usually actually been considered one of the hardest workers at most of the jobs I have had and have been complimented by bosses on my attention to detail,however people find me embarrassing or something and it is hard to get a chance to get hired at most jobs. Also when people notice my attention to detail they sometimes want me to do maintenance work or similar and that is not good for my germophobia. I had a retail job where I worked for almost 10 years until I had to be out with a relative who had a medical emergency. I lost my job for that. Can't a get steady job that works out since. At the job I had for so long the crowds could be scary and many of my fellow associates liked to bully me, nevertheless I was one of the handful of associates who were collectively called "the A-team" for doing the job so well. Now it seems like no one wants to hire me. I keep trying to get a job at one of the local libraries because I love researching topics and I think that it would be a better environment for me. So far the answer is no even though I had been told that I was" very adept" at library work when I was able to do a program that allowed me to try it out for two hours. The crowds are getting bigger and just stepping inside the place where I worked the longest used to make me feel disoriented from the time I was a child. I do not want to have to go back to work there even though they have offered. The stress had made my laughing problems much worse towards the end of working there. For example, one time a rude customer hit me in the head with a ball while I was working and of course I had to start laughing. I think people ended up more upset with me than with the person that hit me. It got such that I was just randomly laughing sometimes during the last hour or two of my shift because of the stress. Does anyone have any career advice for me? My strongest skills are detail observation, visual pattern recognition, researching information, certain visual and literary arts, and memorization. I struggle with algebra and have a slow processing speed even though generally intelligent. College is not currently an option and my only internet is my cell phone.

 

[velociraptor]

ASD1: Generally independent, may be working full time, but would struggle without supports.

My doctor confirmed that I am ASD1 now instead of Asperger's because the name has changed. ASD1 says I require supports. I don't. That's why I'm keeping my Aspie label.