As a practitioner who works with autistic women, and as an autistic woman myself, understanding what autism spectrum disorder is can be difficult. We tend to think of spectrums in terms of a linear progression—from high to low, moderate to severe, 1 to 10, or good to bad.
Indeed, ASD is currently categorised into levels 1, 2, and 3. Level 3 includes people who may have learning difficulties and includes non-verbal people; level 2 includes people who would struggle to live independently; and level 1 includes people of average or above average intelligence who have the capacity to live independent lives. The implication is that, as we move up through the spectrum from level 3 to level 1, people experience autism in less intense or impactful ways and that level 1 autism isn’t as “severe” as level 3 autism.
However, thinking about autism in this way is little comfort to many level 1 autistic people whose symptoms cause difficulties in almost every aspect of their lives. People with a level 1 autism diagnosis are more at risk than the general population of mental health problems, suicidality, career difficulties, bullying, and abuse.
Read more at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/women-autism-spectrum-disorder/202208/autistic-linear-spectrum-pie-chart-spectrum
