High- and low-functioning are labels used to describe autistic people and their capability, based on their intelligence (estimated IQ), social skills and level of support needed to achieve independence.
High-functioning autism is often characterised by average or above-average intelligence, the ability to mask in social or professional situations, and little support needed for everyday activities.
Low-functioning autism is often used for autistic people who also have a co-occurring intellectual disability, and/or who need a greater level of support throughout their life.
We do not use functioning labels at Autistic Youth Hub. We believe they are an overly-simplistic way to categorise autistic people, and perpetuate the harmful idea that it is wrong to look, act and be autistic.
We use the term support needs instead.
A brief history
Functioning labels were created by researchers in the 80s, but they are not officially recognised medical terms, despite widespread usage.
The concept of “high-functioning autism” has links to the term Asperger’s Syndrome, named after Hans Asperger, who was a nazi accomplice and eugenicist. This history has tainted the terms for many people.
Many researchers, doctors and autistic activists have described functioning labels as outdated, inaccurate in describing autistic people and offensive to the autistic community. Support needs or access needs is generally a preferred term by autistic people.
Example in a sentence
“I used to describe myself as high-functioning, but now I say I have low support needs.”