what is difference between autism and aspie?

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From what I read, Asperger's have more social trouble whereas auties have more sensory trouble. Like, people with Asperger's often seem aloof and emotionless, unaware and uninterested in unspoken social rules. I also think there might be more of a desire to be normal in people with Asperger's - not that they're ashamed of who they are but more like... how to say this... they're aware of their social problems, and resent them.

Autistic individuals seem to have more extreme sensory processing issues. They might seek out friends or try to be social, or they might not; but their social difficulties seem different from those with Asperger's. They might be very expressive, but they express the wrong things at the wrong times; or they might be very empathetic, but not towards the "right" things or situations. Like they might expect people and objects to both have the same consciousness, and be equally saddened by a broken lamp or thrown-out toy. They seem to have more boundary issues than AS individuals, as well - more trouble telling where they end and the world begins. And their social problems are more likely influenced by sensory problems.

None of that is concrete fact, it's just my interpretation based on what I have read, and accounts by both AS and autistic individuals.

I don't believe intelligence is necessarily a factor, because it's something that's nearly impossible to measure from an internal point of view. If a person's faculties are in fragments, the ability to take an IQ test would be hindered, even if the mind underneath could function fine were it given the proper information. Even an IQ test in an interactive form rather than a verbal test could pose a problem - someone mentioned fitting shapes into appropriate holes. Well, if the shapes and holes are different colors, it gets more difficult. Then the visual information has to be processed along two different channels, and as we know, ASD individuals usually aren't good at multitasking.

To a NT person, Asperger's might more closely resemble sociopath or OCD, whereas autism might seem more like schizophrenia or - irritatingly - be mistaken for retardation.

The only actual documented difference I've read that seems reliable is that Asperger's individuals are more likely to be clumsy or uncoordinated. I don't believe the language difficulties are a fair criteria, because autistic individuals given the right circumstances can be very verbally advanced.

For instance, we're pretty sure I'm HFA rather than AS, but I score at genius level on tests that measure spelling, grammar, and language. Aside from the occasional obscure vocabulary, most people conversing with me in person would not be able to see this, because my speech is severely hindered by my sensory problems and anxiety. If I'm speaking with someone I'm very close to, my speaking style becomes more formal and eloquent. If I'm speaking with someone I don't know very well, I stop and start, use the wrong words (usually mixing up homonyms), and litter my sentences with meaningless prepositional phrases and colloquialisms. Like "as for me," "a kind of _____," "you have to consider," and so on.

One of the more awkward problems occurs when I'm overwhelmed. I start dropping verbs and substituting nouns with pronouns or words that are connected to the noun in my head. This happens most in loud supermarkets with fluorescent lights and a dizzying array of smells.

...hmm. Maybe you could call that a speech problem, but it doesn't stem from difficulties with language. My brain knows what it wants to say.

Ex. my mother and I were shopping, and I wanted to buy a soft drink. I intended to ask her if she would buy it, as she was buying several other things and the soft drink was the only thing that I wanted. What I actually said was, "Can you....this with your things so I... not twice. You know. All one thing, not on my card." Something to that effect.

Went to Attwood's today, a new psycho told me this when I questioned her on the differences between Asperger's and "autism":

Autism equates to being [nearly always] mute and overtly "stimming" constantly (flapping, rocking and whatnot; the "big" stereotypical stuff); Asperger's equates to...everyone else who can talk.

I swear some people should read the DSM-IV-TR and stick with it; I have no idea where they get these things.

All of this may go for someone diagnosed with Asperger's too. I have no specific diagnosis (my label os ASD), but most likely don't meet autistic disorder criteria. Yet a lot of wha tyou write about your friend applies to me. Besides, this type of logic is only going to make autistic people voiceless, because it means they can't really do for themselves.

Clinically, the only differences between AS and autism relate to one's early development: people with Kanner's autism must have had language delays, while aspies cannot have had a language delay, and Kanner's people may have ha dlowr IQs and poor self-help skills as children. In adults, really, I can't tell apart someone with AS and someone with autism, unless the autistic person has an additional disability of mental retardation, which then becomes telling who has mental retardation and who doesn't - which is by the way not always easy, either.

thanks. Does anyone else feel that online you express yourself differently? I have been told that online I am brief while in person I trail off before getting to the point.

This is one reason why I don't believe differentiating between Asperger's and autism makes much sense. Leads to way more stereotyping than wha tis actually implied in the criteria.