Study Calls For End To ‘High Functioning Autism’ Label
August 2, 2019
By: Michelle Diament
Source: Disability Scoop
A term often used in both clinical and social settings to denote the capabilities of individuals on the autism spectrum should be consigned to the history books, researchers say. “High functioning autism” is a misnomer, according to findings published recently in the journal Autism, and creates false assumptions.
While originally used to describe people who have autism without intellectual disability, the public generally perceives those described this way as being free of significant challenges, researchers say, and that can be dangerous. “The term ‘high functioning autism’ is not a diagnostic term and is based on an IQ assessment, rather than a functional assessment,” said Gail Alvares of the Telethon Kids Institute and The University of Western Australia who led the study. “It was originally used to describe people without an intellectual disability, yet somehow has crept into everyday use and has come to imply that people can manage perfectly fine, and don’t experience any everyday challenges.”
Alvares and her colleagues looked at data on 2,225 people ages 1 to 18 with autism, about half of whom had intellectual disability too. They looked at how the children’s IQ scores compared to how they performed on a measure of functional abilities known as the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales.