Severe Autism (sometimes referred to as Profound Autism) is usually associated with the following characteristics:
- Very likely to require 24/7 levels of care/supervision
- may include self-injurious or other aggressive behaviors
- language/ functional communication can be limited
- IQ < 50 (verbal, nonverbal, full scale) indicating an inability to reason for themselves AND/OR minimally verbal speaking in single words
Dr. Catherine Lord
George Tarjan Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Education
UCLA Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior
Autism Science Foundation Day of Learning 9/2020