What does ‘Autism Spectrum’ actually mean?

We are often asked at Spectrum whether once a child or young person has been identified as Autistic whether they will be given a ‘level’ or label to describe where they might be on the ‘Autism Spectrum’. However, as clinical and societal understanding of Autism have evolved, Autistic advocates now talk about the ‘Autism Spectrum’ not as a linear entity from ‘Low-Functioning’ to ‘High-Functioning’ but as a ‘Spectrum’ of Autistic individual attributes and differences (with many, many more in addition to those identified in the image). So it is more helpful to consider each Autistic’s persons profile as a range of individual ‘settings’ where some are variable, particularly when under stress, and some will remain consistent. This is why we see such variability in the profiles of the Autistic children and young people we see at Spectrum. 

In addition, many Autistic advocates challenge the label of ‘High-Functioning’ as misleading and harmful, as assumptions are often then made about the Autistic person’s support needs and what they ‘should’ be able to do. As described above, we know that each individual Autistic person will have a range of abilities and differences which often show as a spiky profile of talents and areas where more understanding and support is needed by society. By ignoring this variation in an individual Autistic profile, neurotypical society encourages many Autistic people to engage in camouflaging, masking and mimicking behaviours as a means to appear ‘less’ Autistic and to live up to a potentially damaging ‘High-Functioning’ label.