My wife and I use the terms, and so do many we are around, but as everyone knows the spectrum is wide and no one child can be defined completely. We have two children on the spectrum and one we consider low functioning and the other high. My daughter who is seven we consider low because she is non verbal, is still in training pants, has very high sensory issues, tantrums, high amount of stimming, and relays on us for everything in her life. My son on the other hand who is eight we consider high because he has full verbal skills, can function in society and learns fairly well even if he is behind in some areas. My son has more social issues and issues with fine motor skills along with being a little behind.

We have found that people who do not know that much about autism can understand the difference between our two children by those explanations. My wife and I had the children diagnosed at 3 and 2 so we have been at this a while and we are not bothered by any kind of labels anymore as long as the label comes with assistance that the children need. So if calling them autistic instead of something else, or calling them low functioning or high functioning gets them services then that is what we do.

There is a belief out there that labeling children does them harm, but to be honest without the diagnosis and the label then there is no ability to get the services the children need, so I am ok with that.

Neither terms describe my son. He's not nonverbal but he can't have a conversation. He has extreme behaviors but can solve complex problems. He can do many chores but can't be left alone. He can't take an IQ test because he can't read and if he did he would score low because of his language difficulties. And that's what IQ measures.... how well you understand language... not intellience. I know my son is not mentally retarded because of the way he reasons and solves problems.

Well said, the terms give people an idea of what to expect. My son is high functioning. I tell someone he's ASD and they say really? I don't tell them and they say, "oh, somethings not quite right with him, did you know that?" Sigh.

i use those terms also... not that i like them though. i just found it cut through the chase a little bit when discussing my son, his needs, programs, friends, etc.

I use the terms, but I agree that they are poor terms to describe a spectrum. From what I have seen, the most common situation is for a child to be "high functioning" in one area, but low functioning in another. The areas differ from child to child.