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It's more of a wheel and less of a line.

Defining the Spectrum

Clarifying the terms...

Functioning vs. Support Needs

In casual discussions, autism is often oversimplified as a spectrum from mild to severe, but it's crucial to clarify what "mild," "moderate," and "severe" actually mean. Terms like "low-functioning" and "high-functioning" refer to an individual's ability to live independently rather than the severity of their autism. A person may live independently yet still experience significant challenges.

Severity typically relates to the intensity of symptoms, which can be difficult to quantify. Instead of assigning numbers, individuals might describe their experiences more casually, such as mentioning stimming or sensory processing issues. This raises concerns about parents speaking for their children and respecting their privacy and agency.

A color wheel illustrates this concept with a scale from 1 to 10, where 0 or 1 indicates minimal symptoms and 10 represents the most challenging symptoms associated with autism.

"Symptoms Wheel"

The wheel depicted below may portray autism in a light that emphasizes the "negative" impacts. It tends to overlook the uniqueness of autism, where many autistic individuals perceive their way of thinking as a significant asset in their lives due to their distinct cognitive processes. These individuals may not experience as many detrimental symptoms or have effectively managed them through learned coping strategies or medication management that helps reduce the intensity of individual symptoms.

As a side-note, a person's IQ (intellectual quotient or intellectual abilities) isn't considered when determining if someone has autism using the clinical diagnosis measures. This is one of the misconceptions of autism.

Many reasonably argue that it is not possible to fairly measure an autistic person's IQ because of how the test is structured for people who do not speak, have limited speaking abilities, or have yet to be trained on an AAC device (or doesn't have access to one yet) A 2019 NIH meta-analysis study: 10.1186/s13229-019-0260-x revealed selection bias when determining the percentage of autistic individuals having intellectual disabilities. The authors examined studies that investigate the intellectual abilities of individuals with autism. They discussed how the criteria for selecting participants in these studies may inadvertently favor those with higher intellectual abilities, potentially leading to an overestimation of intellectual functioning in the autism population as a whole. This could impact the generalization of findings and lead to a limited understanding of the full spectrum of autism.

A deeper exploration of the diverse intelligences outlined by Dr. Howard Gardner, as illustrated below, may pave the way for developing alternative approaches to assess intelligence, moving beyond the traditional reliance on academic exams for calculating IQ scores.

Additional approaches to assessing intelligence based on this theory involve:

Musical-Rhythmic
Linguistic-Verbal
Intrapersonal
Existential
Logical-Math
Interpersonal
Naturalistic
Visual-Spatial
Bodily-Kinesthetic

As explained earlier, the degree of individual symptoms is what characterizes an individual's autism. The numbered color wheel illustrates 10 sample categories of symptoms. An autistic person may not need a lot of support from others to function in terms of daily living skills, but their autistic symptoms can impact their life a great deal. Therefore, phrasing autism in terms of functioning skills doesn't cover the full picture. For those who do need a lot of supports from others, it means that they have a high amount of symptoms, and also require additional supports to assist with daily living.

Possible Symptoms:

Meltdowns / dysregulation
Eye contact and/or body language
Social Issues
Sensory processing (noises, light, touch, etc.)
Need for routine
Executive function issues
Communication problems
Restricted interests
Anxiety
Stimming (repetitive behaviors)
Motor skills & coordination
Depression
Posture issues

Under the Person-Centered section of AutismU.org, you will find this list of symptoms divided out into individual webpages for a more in-depth review.

Major Points to Review

Describing autism in "functioning" terms doesn't reflect a person's collective symptoms, but rather their independence and ability to manage their own lives.
Severe autism means they have a high number of symptoms that impact their lives and does not necessarily correlate with functioning level.
A person's IQ isn't a part of the diagnosis; more unbiased research into the percentage of those with ID is needed. An intellectual disability can be added if it applies.
IQ test results can be an unfair representation of someone with communication issues, as they are designed for vocal responses or written questions that do not adapt to learning differences. Please see the What is "presumed competence?" page for more insight into what this means.
The above color wheel has a perspective of how people with autism are negatively affected but doesn't emphasize the flip side, where autism can be viewed as a person's unique set of skills that neurotypical people may not hold.

How shall we describe autism?

Uniqueness and Strengths

To Conclude

In conclusion, understanding the spectrum of autism isn't meant to be about categorization. Each person with autism has a unique set of symptoms that can profoundly impact their life. Rather than focusing on how 'functioning' they are, we need to understand their individual strengths and challenges, and provide support where/if needed.