Home / What do the autism severity levels mean?
To be diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) you must meet a specific combination of criteria across two domains: A) Social communication and social interaction; and B) Repetitive or restricted behaviour, interests or activities. Because of the variability in the experiences of autism, the diagnostic criteria (DSM5) provides severity levels 1 to 3 for each of the two domains to reflect the degree certain impact on a person’s life.
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Members of the autism community and their families share lived experience on their autism journeys.
Video Transcription
Autism Community
One of the main things I like to explain is that people with autism have varied abilities and character traits, there’s not one single experience of autism.
— Zoran Bekric
Autism Community
I have Asperger’s syndrome and that means I’m sometimes a bit different from the norm. And - given the right circumstances - being different is a superpower.
— Greta Thunberg
Autism Community
I would play with numbers in a way that other kids would play with their friends.
— Daniel Tammet
Autism Community
People on the spectrum experience the neurotypical world as relentlessly unpredictable and chaotic, perpetually turned up too loud, and full of people who have little respect for personal space.
— Steve Silberman
Autism Community
Everyone has a mountain to climb and autism has not been my mountain, it has been my opportunity for victory.
— Rachel Barcellona
Autism Community
Although people with autism look like other people physically, we are in fact very different in many ways. We are more like travellers from the distant, distant past. And if, by being here, we could help the people of the world remember what truly matters for the Earth, that would give us a quiet pleasure.
— Naoki Higashida
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