Hello.:)

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Joined: 1 Aug 2010
Age: 49
Gender: Female
Posts: 4

04 Aug 2010, 1:41 pm

I'm Melissa and I am new to these forums. I'm mom to an amazing 7 year old boy named Ryan, who has been diagnosed with High Functioning Autism. Originally they told us Aspergers but they switched to HFA after further testing. Anyway, I'm also wife to my amazing husband Chuck, whom our son's doctors feel has Aspergers as well. I'm here to learn all I can.

Ferdinand
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Joined: 27 Feb 2010
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04 Aug 2010, 2:00 pm

Hey there, mother of Ryan. Hope you enjoy your stay.

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Willard
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04 Aug 2010, 2:40 pm

Other than a slight speech delay in the early years, there's no difference between AS and HFA - they're the same thing. The only reason I can see for switching a diagnosis from one to the other is the buzz that the term Asperger Syndrome may be dropped in favor of calling both HFA when the next version of the Diagnostic Manual is published. That's all just speculation at this point, but in the end as far as their effects on a person's daily life, the terms are interchangable.

I find its a little easier for most people to grasp if I tell them I have a form of High Functioning Autism, than if I use the term Asperger Syndrome. At least they've heard of Autism and recognize it as some sort of disability. Since most people pronounce Asperger Syndrome as Ass Burgers, they just want to snicker at it rather than take it seriously (the man's name was actually pronounced Ahz-pair-gur).