Charting My Autistic Traits

A 'linear but not' approach to DSM V related traits

A Constellation of Traits

To me, the idea of a linear autism spectrum was always a little confusing. Recently however while talking about varying degrees of psychic ability in the autistic population, I suddenly saw the spectrum in a different way—more like a bar graph. Linear but not.

So today I decided to explore that idea visually.

I started by loosely adapting the traits of Autism Spectrum Disorder (from the DSM V) and then rated myself from one to ten in each area. One meant a given trait was neuro-normative. Ten meant widely divergent.

I added psychic abilities (or psi) under the hyper-sensitivities category because I feel like it belongs there (more on that in the next podcast).

Then I made several charts on Canva which was easy and fun. When I was done, I felt like I had a better idea of individual traits as a spectrum within the collective.

The Do-nut Chart

The do-nut chart shows the ten categories I chose to work with and the ratings I gave myself in each of them. I scored higher in categories that tend to be less visible to others. In these rankings, 1 is neuro-normative and 10 is widely divergent.

I wish I could have displayed these colors as a gradient to better align with the spectrum within a spectrum idea but that wasn’t an option.

Legend of Traits

I could have included other traits not addressed in the DSM V, but wanted to stick with what is most accepted. This legend shows how I felt the DSM V related traits applied to me. Others may experience these traits in very different ways.

Packed Circles Chart

I think the circle graph does a good job of showing how the various autism traits manifest in my life.

A Bar Graph

To me, the bar graph shows the ‘linear but not’ idea best. Each autism trait has a linear one to ten ranking and is comparable to what other people might report for that particular trait. The person as a whole is not ranked.

Problems with the DSM V

The DSM V identifies common autistic traits and ranks autistic people by their “support needs.” High support needs individuals are diagnosed with ASD 3. Low support needs are ASD 1. The diagnosis of Asperger’s is now called ASD 1.

While, the DSM V describes autism as seen by an observer—it does describe autism, in my opinion. Ranking people by level can be problematic, however, in various ways. For me, ranking individual traits—one by one—is more precise and ultimately more helpful.

While the DSM V is a practical, if imperfect, tool for clinicians—I would rather think about autism as a constellation of traits.

What the DSM V Says About Me

While I think the DSM V description of ASD 1 fits me; I also think it leaves a lot unsaid.

This is the description of ASD 1 from Table 2: Severity levels for autism spectrum disorder from the DSM V-Revised Text. I don’t disagree with it, but there are other autism related traits not included in this description (or in the charts I made) that are significant to me.

In particular, I think the DSM V is focused on the social aspects of autism to the near exclusion of cognitive considerations and autistic inner states.

Without supports in place, deficits in social communication cause noticeable impairments. Difficulty initiating social interactions, and clear examples of atypical or unsuccessful responses to social overtures of others. May appear to have decreased interest in social interactions. For example, a person who is able to speak in full sentences and engages in communication but whose to-and fro conversation with others fails, and whose attempts to make friends are odd and typically unsuccessful. Inflexibility of behavior causes significant interference with functioning in one or more contexts. Difficulty switching between activities. Problems of organization and planning hamper independence.

Update 6/2/2025

I made another chart to express this information according to my ever evolving understanding of autism—this time expressed as a spectrum (sort of) Since I had 12 divisions in this graphic, I added 2 more categories. Because I had more freedom with formatting I adjusted to categories for better accuracy.

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You can listen to my recent Autistic POV podcast on autism and psi below. I edited this episode extensively because I felt I got a lot of things wrong in version one. I am going to talk about this topic more in the next episode of the podcast—hopefully more coherently.

This is the masking one:

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• I made my autism graphics at https://www.canva.com/graphs/

• You can read the DSM 5-revised here.