If you’re seeing this post, you’ve probably heard about “support needs labels” for autistic people. Throughout this post, I will be abbreviating the term “support needs labels” as SNL.

What are they?

Support needs labels are ways to indicate the way an autistic person navigates the world; they have been presented as an alternative to “functioning labels” and “severity labels”. SNLs include low support needs, medium support needs, and high support needs.

These labels are based on how the autistic person experiences autism: how many aids the autist needs, which accommodations they need, how independent they can be, which ADLS/iADLs they need support for.

The biggest distinction between SNLs and other labels that attempt to “rate” someone’s autisticnesss is that support needs labels aren’t focused on how well the autistic person conforms to allistic-normative society. SNLs aren’t about how the autistic person appears to an outsider, they’re about what the autistic person needs.

What does each term mean?

Good question! In my following posts, I will be discussing what each specific label means. When I’ve finished, I will link them here.

Part 2: Low Support Needs

Part 3: Medium Support Needs

internal issues? I’m faking because look how well I’m hiding the fact that things are bad! if it was that bad, more people would notice!

external issues? I’m faking because look how dramatic I’m being! I’m being too loud and selfish and disruptive on purpose!

You’re not advocating for autism if you don’t include the weird kids who have strange interests and are socially awkward, but not in the cute way. The ones people often describe as creepy, or call freaks.

Or the nonverbal special education students who groan and scream in the hallways at school while people in classrooms hold back laughter because for some reason they find it funny.

Or the violent aggressive autistic people who cause damage to themselves and everything around them at one minor inconvenience and will never live independently.

Or autistic adults with picture perfect families and lives, who do not relate to the autistic “culture” that’s now been portrayed online.

Or autistic people who don’t benefit from stim toys, who don’t look at it as a huge factor in their lives, who went through therapy to help them learn skills that they struggled with.

If you don’t advocate for the scary cases and symptoms, the weird autistic people, the incapable autistic people, you’re not advocating for autism. It’s a spectrum and it’s not going to be pretty sometimes. If you don’t acknowledge and include those cases, especially if you’re autistic yourself, can you really say you’re advocating for autism, or is it just yourself?

I’m not doing the Thing, but if I were to do the Thing, what would be the first bit to tackle?

eg: I’m having trouble washing up. I’ll start by just getting all the dishes into one place and emptying the drying rack.

Often, you might find that the first bit was what you were stuck on, and now you’ve done that, you feel ready to do the whole Thing. But if not, that’s fine, you’ve set things up to be easier later! Similarly:

What can I do to set things up for when I’m ready?

eg: I need to apply for a job vacancy I’ve seen. That feels really overwhelming and I don’t have the energy right now. I will create an email with the correct address in and open the files I’ll need for tomorrow.

Half-done is half more than you had before, and it will make things easier when you come back. Reduce the friction and complexity as much as you can.

Will this task actually be any easier if I do it later?

eg: I need to re-spray my waterproofs. It’s sunny today but it’s going to be raining all week, so it would actually be easier to do it now so I can do it outside and let them air. ‘Kay FINE, guess I will.

or: I want to make progress on my Creative Endeavour. I’m having a lot of trouble focussing at the moment but tomorrow I’ll be better rested and my Creative Group will be meeting. It will genuinely be easier then so I should stop worrying about it for now.

Sometimes, you realise that it would legitimately be easier to do a task later. Other times, you realise it would suck more to put it off, and that can help give you a nudge to do it sooner. It also helps reframe it in your head from “will I do the Thing?” to “when will I do the Thing?”

https://discord.gg/CHMqdg9

ADHD CREW is a discord for people with adhd,

BUT IT HAS AN AGE LIMIT 16-19 YEAR OLDS ONLY

Self diagnosed adhd is valid and welcome

Its just a fun place to chat i made that has

over 100 channels

over 100 roles

over 100 people

And has been around for over 2 years now

Feel free to join if ur 16-19 and have ADHD!

Reviews from ADHD folks in the server: