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A major controversy among autistics and parents of autistic children involves the distinction between high-functioning autism (HFA), which is sometimes believed to be the same as Asperger's Syndrome, and low-functioning autism (LFA). Within DSM-IV-TR, these distinction is not made, but certain determiners, such as IQ, are regularly used by researchers and professionals to distinguish between HFA and LFA. Even these, however, are controversial. Below is a summary of the most common professional and lay assumptions about the differences between LFA and HFA, with an explanation of the controversy surrounding them.

• Low-functioning means having an IQ below 70 (or 85, sometimes). This is one of several pretty official distinctions being made. A problem with this distinction is that it is often hard to measure IQ in people with autism: some people may seem high-functioning at first, but their IQ drops as they age because of increased developmental demands. Others' IQ jumps by sometimes as many as 50 points as they learn to use a communication modality that others understand. In the Netherlands, autistics whose IQ can be assessed as being in the mentally retarded range, are considered autistic as well as mentally retarded, so they essentially have two disabilities that may influence each other and each influence the person's functioning.
• Low-functioning means non-verbal. This is the other kind of official definition. The only thing it omits to say, is that non-verbal does not necessarily mean unable to communicate. Speech, after all, may not be communication, and communication does not need to mean speech, since many autistics learn to use alternative communicaiton methods, such as PECS.
• Autistics will always function at the same level regardless of circumstances. There are many factors that could influence a person's functioning, causing them to be able to do something one time and not hte next, or to be able to do something "difficult" but not something "easy". Some autistics learn a skill in a particular context, but cannot generalize that same skill to other contexts. Other people function much worse under stress than they would function if they were calm. Still others know how to do something, but cannot practically do the same thing; for example, they may know about hygiene, bu tnot be able to wash themselves.
• Low-functioning means severely autistic. It is likely that the next version of the DSM will incorporate a sliding scale of autism severity depending on how expliciitly certaqin core symptoms are displayed. However, number or prominence of core symptoms and communicative or cognitive functioning, are quite different. In fact, some people with severe mental retardation lack the cognitive ability to exhibit some autistic features, such as routines. So are they "low-functioning" because they are intellectually disabled, or are they "high-functioning" because the autistic core symptoms are not that obvious?
• High-functioning individuals do not exhibit certain behaviors, such as self-injury or aggression. Even though stereotypically-autistic forms of self-injuring, such as head-banging or hand-biting, are statistically more common among people with intellectual disabilities or impaired communication skills, they do occur among people who have normal IQs and can speak. People with so-called HFA also possibly exhibit other forms of self-harm, such as cutting. This may not be considered typically autistic, but there is no reason to believe it's not potentially severe.
• High-functioning autistics live independently, while low-functioning autistics don't. Many factors contribute to an autistic's ability to live independently. Of course, an intellectual or communicative disability may make it harder, but so does severe executive dysfunction or the risk of certain behavior problems or mental health issues. The concept of independent living is also oftentimes wrongly perceived as black-or-white: some people live independently, but do get home support, or they live in settings with 24-hour assistance but still have their own apartment, or they live with their parents till age 30.