High Functioning Autism (It's NOT what you think!!) | Patrons Choice

Thank you for this. The best quote I have ever seen regarding "mild autism" is this...."when you say that I have mild autism, what I need you to really understand is that what you are saying is that my autism affects YOU mildly."

I used to work at microsoft, had a beautiful wife of 10 years, lots of friends aaaand.... now I'm 37, off and on homeless, divorced, no job, and am struggling to restart my life. You pretty much nailed it. I have no idea how to fit into this world any more, how to make friends or even if I want to since people are not understanding... If anyone else relates to this I'm sorry. So damn sorry.

I was constantly overwhelmed and burnt out at my job for years until one day I broke down and started yelling and hitting the doors and kicking stuff around. Everyone was so surprised because I always looked "so calm and composed." People were just asking me extremely concerned, "what happened?" I like how this video described it. Nothing happened. I was already in constant anguish everyday, it was just something extra that took me over my limit.

This was eye-opening! So in other words, high functioning autism more or less equals mental-stoicism. We suffer every day, yet we become experts at hiding it, at least to a point.

When people are classed in the category of 'mild autism' the expectations placed upon them are huge and that's a big problem in itself. You've explained all of this really well.

Whenever I hear someone call their child "mildly Autistic", I always think of spice levels and say "I'm the spicy kind"

It’s scary how relatable this is. People don’t realise how much I’m struggling until I breakdown

Thank you so much for this. As an autistic adult with a profession and high level of intelligence, I get labeled “high functioning” mostly. I’m not. It’s just like you said. For short periods, I can make it appear to the outside world that all the parts of my life are working well. First off, maintaining that appearance takes every ounce of effort I have when I’m functioning at my best. Second, I can only maintain that level of energy use for at most a few weeks at a time. Third, I’ve never once in my entire life had more than two areas of my life functioning even moderately well. I can’t maintain a full-time job. I can’t maintain my living environment on my own. I can’t maintain social relationships. People see me, and do not understand. They think I’m lazy, or messy, or antisocial. I’m not any of those. I’m just limited in how much I can do. Even mental health professionals don’t understand my challenges, even when clearly explained. It’s very frustrating. Your videos help a lot in understanding and maintaining myself. Thanks again.

I want to cry, you described this so perfectly. I wish everyone I meet would watch this.

I hate it when people say, “But you appear so normal.”

I have just been diagnosed with the autism formerly known as Asperger's, ADHD, and generalized anxiety disorder. I will be 51 next month. I have always known I was different, but I have had to fight so hard to get tested. I have learned to mask so well, even people who knew me before I learned to mask are doubtful of my diagnosis. I don't doubt it at all. I'm finally starting to understand myself, and I finally know that I am not alone. Thank you for making these videos.

My 21 year old daughter has just been diagnosed with High Functioning Autism and this video makes so much sense. The duck frantically paddling underwater while gliding by is a great comparison. We’re learning every day and with videos like this we feel more in tune with things and less alone, thank you so much.

The shoulder wave movement is a replacement to the bouncing ball. Some viewer complained that the bouncing ball was distracting so Paul gave that up and the motor-sensory need found a subconscious substitute. 😉 Let Paul run his own show the way that works best for him, and you adapt to his adaptations for once! It’s not equitable that aspies are always the ones who have to make all that internal effort to fit into neuro-typical’s world.... After all, much of how the world functions and accepted norms are usually pretty arbitrary. IOWs, one is not right and the other wrong

I’m finally starting to understand why it always took me so long to find a new job when I needed to. I mask really well (even, apparently, from myself!) but I’m sure people always just perceived something “off” about me socially. It’s also why my friends and family never believe how poorly I interview, because once I get to know someone I’m more comfortable around them and a lot of those (I assume) off-putting vibes go away.

This is the best explanation of high functioning autism I've ever seen. "Invisible struggles" is a nice way to put it. Like when a magician is performing a trick, and makes it look easy. But, all that's going on (Behind what the eye can see) requires a ton of research, processing and practice. It drains a ton of energy. People should be grateful for all the hidden work you are doing for them (to appear normal), but they can't see it, so they won't give you a standing ovation even if you certainly deserve one. Then, suddenly, you stop the magic tricks cause your battery is under 5%, and you are booed off the stage. That's life.

I started crying toward the end of this video because listening to you describe that "55-year-old" was hearing an aged story of my current struggles and it impacted me so, so deeply that I can barely begin to explain how I feel. I have been extensively researching ASD on/off for nearly a year now and although I have only this evening come to the conclusion that I can no longer deny the overwhelming confirmation that I have autism, it was this video that made me cry thinking, "I can finally let go of the shame I feel for being unemployment, friendless, and single for the last two-and-a-half years thinking there's something so horribly wrong with me that no one will ever understand or be able to help, so what's even the point of living?" My rampant cynicism, nihilism, and pessimism have remained unyielding and progressively worsening with each passing day for years and I feel like I can finally breathe and allow myself to be hopeful. I thought it was me, all me. I thought I was some defective human, damaged far too much to ever believe anything will ever get better, but I feel so much less alone. I finally have the smallest fragment of hope. Actual, genuine hope. You will never know how grateful I am that I happened upon this. I wish there were enough words in the English language to describe that gratitude to you.

I really wish there were more help for people who get diagnosed later than life. It seems "what can we do for autistic people?" ALmost always equates to, "What can we do for autistic children/teens." Then even if there are resources for adults they seem to be for those who already have jobs. "yay our company is so progressive we are hiring qualified candadites who just so happen to have autism."

This video made me cry and laugh and laugh and cry because I have struggled my whole life (51 years) and never understood why I had such difficulty until I accidentally discovered Asperger's in a psychology class. I kept rewinding to your #3, which eerily explains my current life. I left a job of 29 years (to disaster) and am climbing my way back up. My new job is fast pasted and busy which has me struggling like I have never struggled before, particularly with my executive functioning issues: I have horrible short term memory and have to walk around with a pad an pen; don't give me instruction with more than two sentences because my brain short-circuits after that; I have difficulty completing tasks because I am so easily distracted and forget to go back and finish my original task and cannot seem to plan correctly to finish all my tasks during the day. Yeah, I'm gonna fired! But people are always impressed with my intelligence and always expect me to be more successful than I am. They do not know how hard I struggle just to appear "normal" and to keep up. When you say, " The key here is the amount of effort it takes to do really, really well ...because of that increased bit of effort we are often at our limit all the time" and "actually, I am at the very bring of completely falling apart all the time( I laughed and cried at that one)," this is me, now. I am constantly trying to talk myself off the ledge, telling myself to keep calm, do one thing at a time and then move on to the next, but sometimes tasks and management demands do not allow this luxury. I feel like I need to start investigating something else to do which does not make such heavy demands on my executive functioning issues.   You doing a spectacular service for us late-in-life diagnosees, I cannot express how much your work and experience are helping me to cope and understand my existence more. Thank you.

I was always regarded as "high-functioning" because people would always say I was very intelligent and articulate, they couldn't even tell I was autistic. But upon watching this video I think that the idea I was ever "high-functioning" was an illusion... I've struggled pretty much my entire life with making friends (even more with keeping them) and doing my homework. It was so bad I had to go to a specialized private school that drained all of our money, and while I did end up surviving, I've been a NEET ever since. Maybe I was never "high-functioning" at all and I've been sweeping my very real disability under the rug. "It's not that bad, I don't even think I'm struggling. I'm just being lazy!" (Not even mentioning my other mental illnesses by the way.) This video was really eye-opening. Thank you.

You bring up excellent points that provide input to the question if autism gets worse with age. I am a 53 year old male who has always maintained a full time job since I was 18. Around 35 I could see I was getting more and more burned out but didn't know why. I was just diagnosed at the age of 52 and am in the middle of my first leave of absence from work. I am hoping I can transition to receiving SSDI benefits. My spouse of 24 years is disabled and not receiving income or assistance. This didn't bother me as earlier on I was making a decent wage, but as my burn out became more evident as I aged I would continue to lose jobs and my wage has decreased significantly. I am so stressed between trying to support both of us financially and balance our mental health. It's really a struggle. It's hard to find mental health care.