Why I hate functioning labels

[VoidCat]

I know an autistic.
They have an IQ score well above average.
They are highly independent
Has always made good grades
Could with supports live on their own.
Hardly ever has meltdowns.
Can hide their stims and seem normal at times.
Has friends.
Has a good vocabulary
Is usually verbal.
Never was in special ed classes
You would label this autistic high functioning.

I know an autistic.
They have a lot of shutdowns.
Had a 504 plan.
After a shutdown can be nonverbal.
In certain circumstances prefers nonverbal communication and sometimes it's impossible to speak.
Has issues bathing at times.
Has issues brushing their teeth due to sensitivity to taste.
Can have issues with loud noises.
Was not potty trained until 10 years old.
Was thought to be incompetent so had to be tested as an adult.
Has bad social skills and never has had a friendship in the real world last longer than 6 months.
Will likely always need help to function as an adult.
Bad facial recognition.
You would call this autistic low functioning.

Guess What? They're both me.

 

[exchemist]

I know an autistic.
They have an IQ score well above average.
They are highly independent
Has always made good grades
Could with supports live on their own.
Hardly ever has meltdowns.
Can hide their stims and seem normal at times.
Has friends.
Has a good vocabulary
Is usually verbal.
You would label this autistic high functioning.

I know an autistic.
They have a lot of shutdowns.
After a shutdown can be nonverbal.
In certain circumstances prefers nonverbal communication and sometimes it's impossible to speak.
Has issues bathing at times.
Has issues brushing their teeth due to sensitivity to taste.
Can have issues with loud noises.
Was not potty trained until 10 years old.
Was thought to be incompetent so had to be tested as an adult.
Has bad social skills and never has had a friendship in the real world last longer than 6 months.
Will likely always need help to function as an adult.
Bad facial recognition.
You would call this autistic low functioning.

Guess What? They're both me.

Actually I had already guessed, while reading this.

It is quite informative.

 

[QuestioningMind]

I know an autistic.
They have an IQ score well above average.
They are highly independent
Has always made good grades
Could with supports live on their own.
Hardly ever has meltdowns.
Can hide their stims and seem normal at times.
Has friends.
Has a good vocabulary
Is usually verbal.
Never was in special ed classes
You would label this autistic high functioning.

I know an autistic.
They have a lot of shutdowns.
Had a 504 plan.
After a shutdown can be nonverbal.
In certain circumstances prefers nonverbal communication and sometimes it's impossible to speak.
Has issues bathing at times.
Has issues brushing their teeth due to sensitivity to taste.
Can have issues with loud noises.
Was not potty trained until 10 years old.
Was thought to be incompetent so had to be tested as an adult.
Has bad social skills and never has had a friendship in the real world last longer than 6 months.
Will likely always need help to function as an adult.
Bad facial recognition.
You would call this autistic low functioning.

Guess What? They're both me.

I can understand how those labels could be frustrating to you. But I'm curious, how do you suggest we distinguish between those who at times can exhibit BOTH sets of characteristics and those who ONLY exhibit the second set of characteristics?

 

[VoidCat]

I can understand how those labels could be frustrating to you. But I'm curious, how do you suggest we distinguish between those who at times can exhibit BOTH sets of characteristics and those who ONLY exhibit the second set of characteristics?

How about describe them and what they need help with? Most of the time I see people use functioning labels to disqualify autistic peoples voices. You're too high functioning to give advice to help or too low functioning to know what's good for you comes to mind.

 

[VoidCat]

@QuestioningMind an example of describing would be so and so is a nonverbal autistic who uses a computer to communicate.

 

[Nakosis]

I know an autistic.
They have an IQ score well above average.
They are highly independent
Has always made good grades
Could with supports live on their own.
Hardly ever has meltdowns.
Can hide their stims and seem normal at times.
Has friends.
Has a good vocabulary
Is usually verbal.
Never was in special ed classes
You would label this autistic high functioning.

I know an autistic.
They have a lot of shutdowns.
Had a 504 plan.
After a shutdown can be nonverbal.
In certain circumstances prefers nonverbal communication and sometimes it's impossible to speak.
Has issues bathing at times.
Has issues brushing their teeth due to sensitivity to taste.
Can have issues with loud noises.
Was not potty trained until 10 years old.
Was thought to be incompetent so had to be tested as an adult.
Has bad social skills and never has had a friendship in the real world last longer than 6 months.
Will likely always need help to function as an adult.
Bad facial recognition.
You would call this autistic low functioning.

Guess What? They're both me.

Sorry, there's are always going to people going about applying labels. I guess it is useful for censuses and government placement and scientific studies. Generally not useful to judge people by.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Labels only have meaning if you create or identify with the label. Otherwise, labels are meaningless.

 

[Sunstone]

Labels are useful intellectual tools that make possible certain kinds of thinking that are quite useful, and would be lost without our ability to create labels. The problem isn't labels. The problem is most people are too poorly educated/trained in reasoning skills for them to consistently use labels without misusing them.

 

[MNoBody]

trouble with maps [labels, names, models] is that people often mistake them for the territory.

 

[Sunstone]

trouble with maps [labels, names, models] is that people often mistake them for the territory.

Spot on! That's one of the most common causes of their misuse.

 

[icehorse]

Sorry, there's are always going to people going about applying labels. I guess it is useful for censuses and government placement and scientific studies. Generally not useful to judge people by.

And @Ray Warren , I don't think it's the labels that are the problem. As we've already seen in this thread, we can add qualifiers to basic labels to fine tune them quite precisely.

The problems come when people make judgments based on labels.

==

An example that's close to home for me, is that there are now a sizable group of people who will disqualify anything I say because I am a straight, white male.

 

[MNoBody]

And @Ray Warren , I don't think it's the labels that are the problem. As we've already seen in this thread, we can add qualifiers to basic labels to fine tune them quite precisely.

The problems come when people make judgments based on labels.

==

An example that's close to home for me, is that there are now a sizable group of people who will disqualify anything I say because I am a straight, white male.

good nuance to point out....common problem it seems, since peoples dictionaries [lexicons] don't seem to be in resonance, even those speaking the same language.
often people mistake the slant someone has on a thing...
oh, that's what you meant sort of thing, took them a while, or an explanation, to get the frame of reference nailed down.
language has a force called 'spin', which has to be accounted for, apparently, despite it following weird rules not covered in basic language courses. one learns the argot of the street as one goes.