Washington Post on identification of distinct autism subtypes

[Anonymous]

Just to be clear, that means that prior to gene expression the brain structure would be typical. The gene expression alters brain functioning in some way.

[Anonymous]

There are always these “groundbreaking” articles about diseases and developmental disorders, but rarely do they actually lead to progress in treating them. This just seems like another headline to me.

My son is level 1. So he is “low support” as far the spectrum goes, but still struggles socially, and gets easily overwhelmed and overstimulated. It doesn’t matter to me what subtype he is. What matters is how to help him in life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only people that seem to care are the parents of kids who have more difficult symptoms/experiences.

I’m not sure that’s quite true. I got diagnosed recently as an adult… I’m very high functioning (have a doctorate, high paying career, etc) but have struggled socially forever and sought a diagnosis after pretty much realizing it for myself a few years back. My mother refuse to accept I have autism because her vision of autism is the very high needs, low functioning type…

What symptoms did/do you have?

I’m asking because I believe my 18yo DD might be on the spectrum. She’s never really completely fit in with other girls her age. She’d try and like the same things but it wouldn’t come natural to her, at 13/14 when other girls were experimenting with makeup/fashion, she felt too young and wasn’t as interested, and now regularly says she still feels 12 and can’t imagine having the independence to do adult things like drive, work, etc.

I’m fiercely independent so not like your daughter in that way. I have always, always been perceived as weird by the people around me and was severely bullied pretty much my whole life. In high school I had a girl pretty much tell me to my face that she didn’t want me to come to a social gathering because I was weird. I never understood social cues and would end up trying to mimic things I saw on tv shows to try to fit in which just made me weirder. In my adult life I don’t have many friends. I am married (my husband is also neurodivergent and accepts my weirdness). I also get really easily frustrated at things. Oh and I never realize how loud I am especially when I get excited about what I’m talking about… my husband always has to shush me, lol.

But as I said besides socially I’m prettt successful… I’ve always been smart and excelled academically and in my career. Professionally I’m able to mask and fake my way through being collegial and I supervise a ton of folks who have all raved about me as a manager, so it doesn’t manifest there…

If how you described yourself is autism, then that tent is pretty big.

Exactly. The reason why scientists have basically have had to create new autism categories is to fix the overly broad diagnostic criteria of the DSM 5 and clinical practice. If you don’t filter out the adults who are normal in all ways except some social quirks then you cannot do any sort of meaningful research.

I’m not disagreeing with you and fully acknowledge that those currently classified as levels 2 and 3 need far more support. At the same time this comment comes off as incredibly dismissive that high functioning autistics don’t benefit from a diagnosis. We do. I’m working through a lot now that I have a diagnosis that is helping me understand my childhood and who I am that I wouldn’t be able to do without the clarity around how my mind works. Don’t dismiss my experience I won’t dismiss yours or your child’s

You could understand your mind without a diagnosis so broad as to be understood by many to be meaningless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only people that seem to care are the parents of kids who have more difficult symptoms/experiences.

I’m not sure that’s quite true. I got diagnosed recently as an adult… I’m very high functioning (have a doctorate, high paying career, etc) but have struggled socially forever and sought a diagnosis after pretty much realizing it for myself a few years back. My mother refuse to accept I have autism because her vision of autism is the very high needs, low functioning type…

What symptoms did/do you have?

I’m asking because I believe my 18yo DD might be on the spectrum. She’s never really completely fit in with other girls her age. She’d try and like the same things but it wouldn’t come natural to her, at 13/14 when other girls were experimenting with makeup/fashion, she felt too young and wasn’t as interested, and now regularly says she still feels 12 and can’t imagine having the independence to do adult things like drive, work, etc.

I’m fiercely independent so not like your daughter in that way. I have always, always been perceived as weird by the people around me and was severely bullied pretty much my whole life. In high school I had a girl pretty much tell me to my face that she didn’t want me to come to a social gathering because I was weird. I never understood social cues and would end up trying to mimic things I saw on tv shows to try to fit in which just made me weirder. In my adult life I don’t have many friends. I am married (my husband is also neurodivergent and accepts my weirdness). I also get really easily frustrated at things. Oh and I never realize how loud I am especially when I get excited about what I’m talking about… my husband always has to shush me, lol.

But as I said besides socially I’m prettt successful… I’ve always been smart and excelled academically and in my career. Professionally I’m able to mask and fake my way through being collegial and I supervise a ton of folks who have all raved about me as a manager, so it doesn’t manifest there…

If how you described yourself is autism, then that tent is pretty big.

Exactly. The reason why scientists have basically have had to create new autism categories is to fix the overly broad diagnostic criteria of the DSM 5 and clinical practice. If you don’t filter out the adults who are normal in all ways except some social quirks then you cannot do any sort of meaningful research.

I’m not disagreeing with you and fully acknowledge that those currently classified as levels 2 and 3 need far more support. At the same time this comment comes off as incredibly dismissive that high functioning autistics don’t benefit from a diagnosis. We do. I’m working through a lot now that I have a diagnosis that is helping me understand my childhood and who I am that I wouldn’t be able to do without the clarity around how my mind works. Don’t dismiss my experience I won’t dismiss yours or your child’s

You could understand your mind without a diagnosis so broad as to be understood by many to be meaningless.

Who literally thinks it's "meaningless"? Many autistic people and their families can tell you the diagnosis has been very meaningful to them and helped them get the support they need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:.
It doesn’t matter to me what subtype he is. What matters is how to help him in life.

The subtype helps with that!

That's why different disorders have different names in the first place!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.
It doesn’t matter to me what subtype he is. What matters is how to help him in life.

The subtype helps with that!

That's why different disorders have different names in the first place!

So far it just seems like a different way of classifying the developmental differences we’re already well aware of. That’s not groundbreaking. Just seems like more click bait.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.
It doesn’t matter to me what subtype he is. What matters is how to help him in life.

The subtype helps with that!

That's why different disorders have different names in the first place!

So far it just seems like a different way of classifying the developmental differences we’re already well aware of. That’s not groundbreaking. Just seems like more click bait.

What is important is that they identified biological differences between the groups. This could help establish different diagnoses that are actually consistent. The entire reason they combined Asperger's etc with autism is there was no consistency in how different providers diagnosed people. This could lead to more helpful diagnostic categories. Obviously, a lot more study is needed to get to that point, but this is how science works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WaPo published a piece today on a Princeton study published in Nature this summer around identifying 4 distinct phenotype and geneotype based groups of autism:

WaPo piece: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/12/26/autism-research-diagnosis-subtypes/

Article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-025-02224-z

What do you all think?

Personally I think their classifications makes lot of sense and may settle some of the strife in the community between those who right now are classified as level 1 vs levels 2/3. Thoughts?

I can’t give you an opinion because there’s a paywall and I don’t have time to read the Nature report.

Paywall isn’t working, hit the headphones and listen to the article

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.
It doesn’t matter to me what subtype he is. What matters is how to help him in life.

The subtype helps with that!

That's why different disorders have different names in the first place!

So far it just seems like a different way of classifying the developmental differences we’re already well aware of. That’s not groundbreaking. Just seems like more click bait.

I think one reason the researchers did this is because autism research was becoming hard to do because so many people diagnosed as autistic were basically indistinguishable from the general population. So having these different categories could help researchers focus on the groups they are interested in to look for therapies/treatments etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only people that seem to care are the parents of kids who have more difficult symptoms/experiences.

I’m not sure that’s quite true. I got diagnosed recently as an adult… I’m very high functioning (have a doctorate, high paying career, etc) but have struggled socially forever and sought a diagnosis after pretty much realizing it for myself a few years back. My mother refuse to accept I have autism because her vision of autism is the very high needs, low functioning type…

What symptoms did/do you have?

I’m asking because I believe my 18yo DD might be on the spectrum. She’s never really completely fit in with other girls her age. She’d try and like the same things but it wouldn’t come natural to her, at 13/14 when other girls were experimenting with makeup/fashion, she felt too young and wasn’t as interested, and now regularly says she still feels 12 and can’t imagine having the independence to do adult things like drive, work, etc.

I’m fiercely independent so not like your daughter in that way. I have always, always been perceived as weird by the people around me and was severely bullied pretty much my whole life. In high school I had a girl pretty much tell me to my face that she didn’t want me to come to a social gathering because I was weird. I never understood social cues and would end up trying to mimic things I saw on tv shows to try to fit in which just made me weirder. In my adult life I don’t have many friends. I am married (my husband is also neurodivergent and accepts my weirdness). I also get really easily frustrated at things. Oh and I never realize how loud I am especially when I get excited about what I’m talking about… my husband always has to shush me, lol.

But as I said besides socially I’m prettt successful… I’ve always been smart and excelled academically and in my career. Professionally I’m able to mask and fake my way through being collegial and I supervise a ton of folks who have all raved about me as a manager, so it doesn’t manifest there…

If how you described yourself is autism, then that tent is pretty big.

Exactly. The reason why scientists have basically have had to create new autism categories is to fix the overly broad diagnostic criteria of the DSM 5 and clinical practice. If you don’t filter out the adults who are normal in all ways except some social quirks then you cannot do any sort of meaningful research.

I’m not disagreeing with you and fully acknowledge that those currently classified as levels 2 and 3 need far more support. At the same time this comment comes off as incredibly dismissive that high functioning autistics don’t benefit from a diagnosis. We do. I’m working through a lot now that I have a diagnosis that is helping me understand my childhood and who I am that I wouldn’t be able to do without the clarity around how my mind works. Don’t dismiss my experience I won’t dismiss yours or your child’s

You could understand your mind without a diagnosis so broad as to be understood by many to be meaningless.

Who literally thinks it's "meaningless"? Many autistic people and their families can tell you the diagnosis has been very meaningful to them and helped them get the support they need.

The problem is that many adults are insisting on an autism diagnosis because it has some kind of identity benefits/secondary gain, when their actual issues are not autism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only people that seem to care are the parents of kids who have more difficult symptoms/experiences.

I’m not sure that’s quite true. I got diagnosed recently as an adult… I’m very high functioning (have a doctorate, high paying career, etc) but have struggled socially forever and sought a diagnosis after pretty much realizing it for myself a few years back. My mother refuse to accept I have autism because her vision of autism is the very high needs, low functioning type…

What symptoms did/do you have?

I’m asking because I believe my 18yo DD might be on the spectrum. She’s never really completely fit in with other girls her age. She’d try and like the same things but it wouldn’t come natural to her, at 13/14 when other girls were experimenting with makeup/fashion, she felt too young and wasn’t as interested, and now regularly says she still feels 12 and can’t imagine having the independence to do adult things like drive, work, etc.

I’m fiercely independent so not like your daughter in that way. I have always, always been perceived as weird by the people around me and was severely bullied pretty much my whole life. In high school I had a girl pretty much tell me to my face that she didn’t want me to come to a social gathering because I was weird. I never understood social cues and would end up trying to mimic things I saw on tv shows to try to fit in which just made me weirder. In my adult life I don’t have many friends. I am married (my husband is also neurodivergent and accepts my weirdness). I also get really easily frustrated at things. Oh and I never realize how loud I am especially when I get excited about what I’m talking about… my husband always has to shush me, lol.

But as I said besides socially I’m prettt successful… I’ve always been smart and excelled academically and in my career. Professionally I’m able to mask and fake my way through being collegial and I supervise a ton of folks who have all raved about me as a manager, so it doesn’t manifest there…

If how you described yourself is autism, then that tent is pretty big.

Exactly. The reason why scientists have basically have had to create new autism categories is to fix the overly broad diagnostic criteria of the DSM 5 and clinical practice. If you don’t filter out the adults who are normal in all ways except some social quirks then you cannot do any sort of meaningful research.

I’m not disagreeing with you and fully acknowledge that those currently classified as levels 2 and 3 need far more support. At the same time this comment comes off as incredibly dismissive that high functioning autistics don’t benefit from a diagnosis. We do. I’m working through a lot now that I have a diagnosis that is helping me understand my childhood and who I am that I wouldn’t be able to do without the clarity around how my mind works. Don’t dismiss my experience I won’t dismiss yours or your child’s

You could understand your mind without a diagnosis so broad as to be understood by many to be meaningless.

Who literally thinks it's "meaningless"? Many autistic people and their families can tell you the diagnosis has been very meaningful to them and helped them get the support they need.

The problem is that many adults are insisting on an autism diagnosis because it has some kind of identity benefits/secondary gain, when their actual issues are not autism.

So nobody actually thinks it's "meaningless", but some people are misusing it according to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only people that seem to care are the parents of kids who have more difficult symptoms/experiences.

I’m not sure that’s quite true. I got diagnosed recently as an adult… I’m very high functioning (have a doctorate, high paying career, etc) but have struggled socially forever and sought a diagnosis after pretty much realizing it for myself a few years back. My mother refuse to accept I have autism because her vision of autism is the very high needs, low functioning type…

What symptoms did/do you have?

I’m asking because I believe my 18yo DD might be on the spectrum. She’s never really completely fit in with other girls her age. She’d try and like the same things but it wouldn’t come natural to her, at 13/14 when other girls were experimenting with makeup/fashion, she felt too young and wasn’t as interested, and now regularly says she still feels 12 and can’t imagine having the independence to do adult things like drive, work, etc.

I’m fiercely independent so not like your daughter in that way. I have always, always been perceived as weird by the people around me and was severely bullied pretty much my whole life. In high school I had a girl pretty much tell me to my face that she didn’t want me to come to a social gathering because I was weird. I never understood social cues and would end up trying to mimic things I saw on tv shows to try to fit in which just made me weirder. In my adult life I don’t have many friends. I am married (my husband is also neurodivergent and accepts my weirdness). I also get really easily frustrated at things. Oh and I never realize how loud I am especially when I get excited about what I’m talking about… my husband always has to shush me, lol.

But as I said besides socially I’m prettt successful… I’ve always been smart and excelled academically and in my career. Professionally I’m able to mask and fake my way through being collegial and I supervise a ton of folks who have all raved about me as a manager, so it doesn’t manifest there…

If how you described yourself is autism, then that tent is pretty big.

Exactly. The reason why scientists have basically have had to create new autism categories is to fix the overly broad diagnostic criteria of the DSM 5 and clinical practice. If you don’t filter out the adults who are normal in all ways except some social quirks then you cannot do any sort of meaningful research.

I’m not disagreeing with you and fully acknowledge that those currently classified as levels 2 and 3 need far more support. At the same time this comment comes off as incredibly dismissive that high functioning autistics don’t benefit from a diagnosis. We do. I’m working through a lot now that I have a diagnosis that is helping me understand my childhood and who I am that I wouldn’t be able to do without the clarity around how my mind works. Don’t dismiss my experience I won’t dismiss yours or your child’s

You could understand your mind without a diagnosis so broad as to be understood by many to be meaningless.

Who literally thinks it's "meaningless"? Many autistic people and their families can tell you the diagnosis has been very meaningful to them and helped them get the support they need.

The problem is that many adults are insisting on an autism diagnosis because it has some kind of identity benefits/secondary gain, when their actual issues are not autism.

My dc was dx as a young child and I'm not myself autistic-but I'm pretty sure this is not accurate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only people that seem to care are the parents of kids who have more difficult symptoms/experiences.

I’m not sure that’s quite true. I got diagnosed recently as an adult… I’m very high functioning (have a doctorate, high paying career, etc) but have struggled socially forever and sought a diagnosis after pretty much realizing it for myself a few years back. My mother refuse to accept I have autism because her vision of autism is the very high needs, low functioning type…

What symptoms did/do you have?

I’m asking because I believe my 18yo DD might be on the spectrum. She’s never really completely fit in with other girls her age. She’d try and like the same things but it wouldn’t come natural to her, at 13/14 when other girls were experimenting with makeup/fashion, she felt too young and wasn’t as interested, and now regularly says she still feels 12 and can’t imagine having the independence to do adult things like drive, work, etc.

I’m fiercely independent so not like your daughter in that way. I have always, always been perceived as weird by the people around me and was severely bullied pretty much my whole life. In high school I had a girl pretty much tell me to my face that she didn’t want me to come to a social gathering because I was weird. I never understood social cues and would end up trying to mimic things I saw on tv shows to try to fit in which just made me weirder. In my adult life I don’t have many friends. I am married (my husband is also neurodivergent and accepts my weirdness). I also get really easily frustrated at things. Oh and I never realize how loud I am especially when I get excited about what I’m talking about… my husband always has to shush me, lol.

But as I said besides socially I’m prettt successful… I’ve always been smart and excelled academically and in my career. Professionally I’m able to mask and fake my way through being collegial and I supervise a ton of folks who have all raved about me as a manager, so it doesn’t manifest there…

If how you described yourself is autism, then that tent is pretty big.

Exactly. The reason why scientists have basically have had to create new autism categories is to fix the overly broad diagnostic criteria of the DSM 5 and clinical practice. If you don’t filter out the adults who are normal in all ways except some social quirks then you cannot do any sort of meaningful research.

I’m not disagreeing with you and fully acknowledge that those currently classified as levels 2 and 3 need far more support. At the same time this comment comes off as incredibly dismissive that high functioning autistics don’t benefit from a diagnosis. We do. I’m working through a lot now that I have a diagnosis that is helping me understand my childhood and who I am that I wouldn’t be able to do without the clarity around how my mind works. Don’t dismiss my experience I won’t dismiss yours or your child’s

You could understand your mind without a diagnosis so broad as to be understood by many to be meaningless.

Who literally thinks it's "meaningless"? Many autistic people and their families can tell you the diagnosis has been very meaningful to them and helped them get the support they need.

The problem is that many adults are insisting on an autism diagnosis because it has some kind of identity benefits/secondary gain, when their actual issues are not autism.

Yeah it's more palatable to be "high functioning autistic adult" than "person with few friends who isn't particularly likable" (me).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only people that seem to care are the parents of kids who have more difficult symptoms/experiences.

I’m not sure that’s quite true. I got diagnosed recently as an adult… I’m very high functioning (have a doctorate, high paying career, etc) but have struggled socially forever and sought a diagnosis after pretty much realizing it for myself a few years back. My mother refuse to accept I have autism because her vision of autism is the very high needs, low functioning type…

What symptoms did/do you have?

I’m asking because I believe my 18yo DD might be on the spectrum. She’s never really completely fit in with other girls her age. She’d try and like the same things but it wouldn’t come natural to her, at 13/14 when other girls were experimenting with makeup/fashion, she felt too young and wasn’t as interested, and now regularly says she still feels 12 and can’t imagine having the independence to do adult things like drive, work, etc.

I’m fiercely independent so not like your daughter in that way. I have always, always been perceived as weird by the people around me and was severely bullied pretty much my whole life. In high school I had a girl pretty much tell me to my face that she didn’t want me to come to a social gathering because I was weird. I never understood social cues and would end up trying to mimic things I saw on tv shows to try to fit in which just made me weirder. In my adult life I don’t have many friends. I am married (my husband is also neurodivergent and accepts my weirdness). I also get really easily frustrated at things. Oh and I never realize how loud I am especially when I get excited about what I’m talking about… my husband always has to shush me, lol.

But as I said besides socially I’m prettt successful… I’ve always been smart and excelled academically and in my career. Professionally I’m able to mask and fake my way through being collegial and I supervise a ton of folks who have all raved about me as a manager, so it doesn’t manifest there…

If how you described yourself is autism, then that tent is pretty big.

Exactly. The reason why scientists have basically have had to create new autism categories is to fix the overly broad diagnostic criteria of the DSM 5 and clinical practice. If you don’t filter out the adults who are normal in all ways except some social quirks then you cannot do any sort of meaningful research.

I’m not disagreeing with you and fully acknowledge that those currently classified as levels 2 and 3 need far more support. At the same time this comment comes off as incredibly dismissive that high functioning autistics don’t benefit from a diagnosis. We do. I’m working through a lot now that I have a diagnosis that is helping me understand my childhood and who I am that I wouldn’t be able to do without the clarity around how my mind works. Don’t dismiss my experience I won’t dismiss yours or your child’s

You could understand your mind without a diagnosis so broad as to be understood by many to be meaningless.

Who literally thinks it's "meaningless"? Many autistic people and their families can tell you the diagnosis has been very meaningful to them and helped them get the support they need.

The problem is that many adults are insisting on an autism diagnosis because it has some kind of identity benefits/secondary gain, when their actual issues are not autism.

Yeah it's more palatable to be "high functioning autistic adult" than "person with few friends who isn't particularly likable" (me).

lol. The other thing is that there are autism characteristics that are subclinical but people want a diagnosis to get the secondary benefits of it. At the end of the day, autism seems like one of the few things where it has to be an all-encompassing identity instead of just being a condition you have. Like I have legit generalized anxiety but I don’t call myself “an anxious” or seek to see everything through that lens. instead I try to cope with it (and take medication that helps it go away).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only people that seem to care are the parents of kids who have more difficult symptoms/experiences.

I’m not sure that’s quite true. I got diagnosed recently as an adult… I’m very high functioning (have a doctorate, high paying career, etc) but have struggled socially forever and sought a diagnosis after pretty much realizing it for myself a few years back. My mother refuse to accept I have autism because her vision of autism is the very high needs, low functioning type…

What symptoms did/do you have?

I’m asking because I believe my 18yo DD might be on the spectrum. She’s never really completely fit in with other girls her age. She’d try and like the same things but it wouldn’t come natural to her, at 13/14 when other girls were experimenting with makeup/fashion, she felt too young and wasn’t as interested, and now regularly says she still feels 12 and can’t imagine having the independence to do adult things like drive, work, etc.

I’m fiercely independent so not like your daughter in that way. I have always, always been perceived as weird by the people around me and was severely bullied pretty much my whole life. In high school I had a girl pretty much tell me to my face that she didn’t want me to come to a social gathering because I was weird. I never understood social cues and would end up trying to mimic things I saw on tv shows to try to fit in which just made me weirder. In my adult life I don’t have many friends. I am married (my husband is also neurodivergent and accepts my weirdness). I also get really easily frustrated at things. Oh and I never realize how loud I am especially when I get excited about what I’m talking about… my husband always has to shush me, lol.

But as I said besides socially I’m prettt successful… I’ve always been smart and excelled academically and in my career. Professionally I’m able to mask and fake my way through being collegial and I supervise a ton of folks who have all raved about me as a manager, so it doesn’t manifest there…

If how you described yourself is autism, then that tent is pretty big.

Exactly. The reason why scientists have basically have had to create new autism categories is to fix the overly broad diagnostic criteria of the DSM 5 and clinical practice. If you don’t filter out the adults who are normal in all ways except some social quirks then you cannot do any sort of meaningful research.

I’m not disagreeing with you and fully acknowledge that those currently classified as levels 2 and 3 need far more support. At the same time this comment comes off as incredibly dismissive that high functioning autistics don’t benefit from a diagnosis. We do. I’m working through a lot now that I have a diagnosis that is helping me understand my childhood and who I am that I wouldn’t be able to do without the clarity around how my mind works. Don’t dismiss my experience I won’t dismiss yours or your child’s

You could understand your mind without a diagnosis so broad as to be understood by many to be meaningless.

Who literally thinks it's "meaningless"? Many autistic people and their families can tell you the diagnosis has been very meaningful to them and helped them get the support they need.

The problem is that many adults are insisting on an autism diagnosis because it has some kind of identity benefits/secondary gain, when their actual issues are not autism.

Yeah it's more palatable to be "high functioning autistic adult" than "person with few friends who isn't particularly likable" (me).

lol. The other thing is that there are autism characteristics that are subclinical but people want a diagnosis to get the secondary benefits of it. At the end of the day, autism seems like one of the few things where it has to be an all-encompassing identity instead of just being a condition you have. Like I have legit generalized anxiety but I don’t call myself “an anxious” or seek to see everything through that lens. instead I try to cope with it (and take medication that helps it go away).

Anxiety is a treatable condition. You can provide supports for autism but you can't make an autistic person not autistic (though a small percentage of autistic kids go on to not qualify for the diagnosis as adults)