Yeah exactly, it’s the same thought process behind that. So you would talk about it in terms of some or other specific support need. Someone might not be able to go to the grocery store alone, but if online shopping is available it’s not something that might have an impact on their life and therefore isn’t a support need.

Since the “light” and “severe” adjectives don’t have a medical basis, they are based on how the autistic person makes them feel and hasn’t got to do with what the autistic person is actually going through in that moment or during other parts of their life. Someone could struggle to take basic care of themselves at home and be going through intense anxiety in the moment which will cause a non-verbal shutdown later, but someone they are speaking to could be surprised they are autistic and claim it must be “light autism”. If they interacted with that same person during the shut down, it might be “mild” or “severe”.

Having said that, I can understand how that language could help to get certain ideas across to people who don’t understand autism.

Have you heard why defining someone as “severely autistic” or “lightly autistic” is not good? I’m autistic, if you’re interested let me know and I can type more about it.