Autism is a Spectrum

What does it mean exactly that autism is a “spectrum”? To me, it means that there are constellations of autistic traits, which different autistic people exhibit to varying degrees. For example:

• I am hypersensitive to noise and light. Some autistic people aren’t hypersensitive to noise and light, but are hypersensitive to other things.
• I am very high in masking. Some autistic people don’t mask at all.
• I have a high systematizing quotient—I think in terms of systems. Some autistic people don’t.
• I have poor short-term memory. Some autistic people have excellent short-term memory.
• I had no speech delay in my developmental years. Some autistic people never learn to speak.

Imagine how many possible combinations of autistic traits there are. This is why you can’t effectively represent autism by thinking of something akin to a number line. Unfortunately, autism is often misperceived as a linear condition, ranging from barely autistic on one end to very autistic on the other end. I think this way of thinking about and talking about autism causes confusion because it obscures the multidimensionality of it. That’s why I’m a fan of the term “autism spectrum” instead.

And I think we should talk about the autism spectrum like we do pregnancy. You’re either pregnant, or you’re not. You’re either somewhere on the autism spectrum, or you’re not. There’s not much middle ground there. Just because there are many types of pregnancy doesn’t imply that “Everybody is a little bit pregnant.” Similarly, that there are different combinations of autistic traits doesn’t mean we should say “Everybody is a little autistic.” Most people aren’t autistic.

Obviously we still need a way to differentiate the kind of autism that expresses itself as social awkwardness with genius-level intellect versus the kind that expresses itself in non-verbal people who can’t tie their shoes. For that, I prefer to consider the level of extra support someone requires to meet their day-to-day needs. While different supports may be required for different autistic people, the overall level of extra support needed is a useful way to differentiate “levels” or “types” of autism without losing sight of the true multidimensionality of the broader autism spectrum.

As a final note, just because someone doesn’t use my verbiage for autism doesn’t make them ableist. My terminology is not without its own pitfalls. What matters most is that people understand autism, not that they use all the right words all the time. I’m not the final word on which words people should use to refer to this condition. I think there’s plenty of room for disagreement here. I just wanted to talk about why I prefer “the autism spectrum” over other popular terminology that has been used.