This Is Not Autism

A civil-rights focused advocacy website dedicated to challenging deficit-based autism narratives, highlighting under-identified trauma and PTSD among autistic and DD/ID populations, and providing an open-access, searchable resource library, tools for action, and evidence-based reform resources. Minimalist, accessible, and mobile-first design prioritizing inclusion and clarity.

Stop classifying people by presumed incompetence.

This Is Not Autism. It’s Trauma—And Autistic People Deserve Care.

In recent years, advocacy and policy discourse has introduced the term “profound autism,” often used to refer to autistic people with high support needs. While this terminology may seem descriptive, lawmakers should note that “profound autism” is not a diagnosis recognized by the DSM‑5‑TR (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Text Revision). Its use risks conflating social policy decisions with clinical science—and may inadvertently create inequities in access to services.

Lawmaker Memos about Medicaid Fraud
Separating ASD from PTSD
The “PROFOUND AUTISM” Movement

We the Autistic scientists agree.

Eloping

Why Autistics seek out bodies of water

Eloping to Water

What “Profound Autism” Really Means in Policy

“Profound autism” is not a recognized medical diagnosis.
It does not appear in DSM or ICD.

In law and advocacy campaigns, it is defined by:

  • lifelong 24/7 caregiving needs
  • intellectual disability
  • minimal or no speech
  • higher rates of self-injury, seizures, and poverty

This definition collapses autism with disability, distress, and deprivation, turning support needs into a pseudo-diagnostic category.When governments adopt this framing, they do not create better supports.
They create a subclass defined by burden and cost.

PICA – eating nonfoods

What smearing feces means and doesn’t mean

Read about PICA and PANDAS

What Autism Is

Autism is defined by differences in social communication and by restricted or repetitive patterns of behavior and perception.

Autism is not defined by:

  • IQ scores
  • Language level
  • Whether someone needs 24/7 support
  • Whether someone is distressed, self-injuring, or medically complex
  • How expensive supports are

Those are support needs and outcomes, shaped by environment, access, trauma, health care, and policy—not the essence of autism itself.

Read my lips.

There is nothing profound about needing 24/7 care.

Peer-Reviewed Resources

Lawmakers approached by constituents need to read this.

We reject the idea that people should be classified—and denied evaluation—based on presumed incompetence.

That is a discriminatory function that members of society have anointed themselves to perform for us, about us, without us.

Autistic people and people with DD/ID can communicate trauma in diverse ways. Assessment should meet the person where they are—through accommodations, validated tools, collateral sources, and skilled clinical interpretation—not by shutting the door on diagnosis.

Who wants “Profound Autism” to be a recognized term in legislation?

Latest NEWS

On the National Blotter

This site prioritizes primary and peer-reviewed sources. We will cite DSM text, APA guidance, and the clinical research literature, and we will clearly separate evidence from interpretation.

Sources Matter