Chloé Hayden

She is real and she is authentic, and I pride myself on that.

But she's cute.

and she's quirky and she's funny and warm and likable and relatable, and most importantly, she's high-functioning.

For those who don't know about functioning labels, functioning labels have historically, stereotypically been used in order to associate one group of autistic people over here as being less autistic, as having less support needs, as therefore being high-functioning.

and another group of autistic people over here on the spectrum as being more autistic, as having higher support needs, as being low-functioning.

We need to see functioning labels for what they really are.

How capable is this person of blending in with the rest of us normal people?

And in turn, how capable is this person of producing capitalistic value?

because this is the real reason why we use functioning labels, to determine a person's economic worth.

We live in an incredibly capitalistic society, where for every single one of us, our worth and our value is heavily dependent on what we do, what we achieve, what we make and what we contribute.

Autistic people who are unable to be a productive cog in this capitalistic machine are seen as less than and given the label of low functioning.

An autistic person's level of functioning is going to fluctuate throughout their day, throughout their week, throughout their life because of an abundance of circumstances.

You see me standing on this stage today.

I'm wearing a bright outfit and colorful makeup, speaking a pre-written script in front of all of you.

Today, I am high-functioning.

Tomorrow, there is a high chance I will not be able to speak at all.

My husband is going to have to dress me, feed me, shower me and be my complete caretaker.

Tomorrow, I am low-functioning.

Functioning labels as we know them do not exist.

The autism spectrum is not a linear spectrum in which one end is a little bit autistic and the other end is a lot autistic.