What's the difference between HFA and aspergers?

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I think that SOME people with aspergers CAN have a speech delay from what I've all heard, but not usually a very severe delay. So far I think that it's probably the same as any NORMAL kid who has a speech delay. Some people just take a little longer to catch on, it doesn't mean that they are slow. Albert Einstein couldn't talk til' he was 4 years old... People aren't even 100% sure if he even had aspergers or not, it's only been a postulation of many thus far.

BTW, my mother tells me that I had somewhat of a speech delay. She tells me that I started talking at a normal age but didn't really talk in full sentences til' I was two (like I said before). But she also told me that never wanted to speak in sentences (seemingly by choice), and I'd usually use single words to express myself until I was maybe 4 or so. I think I remember being quite shy as a kid though, and this may have played a role in me being reluctant to speak in full sentences.

Just to make my self clear, I think I COULD speak in full sentences at two from what it sounds like, I just chose not to. Is this the case for most autistic children? Do they KNOW how to talk in sentences or do they usually just CHOOSE not to?

Sorry for adding another message but I forgot to add something... My mother told me that I was a little late to walk, could this be due to aspergers? I know that most people with aspergers are clumsy, so I could see this being an extreme possibility. I often feel dizzy and clumsy (which is probably due to my aspergers) and sometimes I almost fall over due to being dizzy. Could the late offset of walking be caused by the aspergers?

I dunno really about the DSM-IV; I hope there are some adjustments to the V.
I'm curious because I want to know if it's implying that repetitive motor mannerisms, rituals, difficulty with transition... are HFA traits rather than AS. Because it seems like almost everyone with AS experiences things like these - in addition to specialized interest(s) - so why are they listed as HFA predominantly?

Edit: Removed my dumb question...

People with Asperger's have "significant abnormalities in the areas of social interaction"; autism has the other two in addition to the aforementioned reciprocal social interaction difficulties.

Social interaction: being unable to do it entirely, or having marked difficulty to the point of having no "lasting" friends unless said "friends" build the bridge, or they don't mind your "eccentricities". Bad to good in the context of ASDs. Asperger's and autism are similar here.

Language: a total lack of to the inability to initiate and sustain a conversation in someone with autism; in contrast someone with Asperger's will probably be able to keep a conversation going, it'll just be "done in a highly eccentric, one-sided, verbose, and insensitive manner."

Play: a lack of imaginative/pretend play as a child (<3). Not pretending to be a...Transformer or something, and playing with toys in a mechanical way that's usually the "wrong" way to play with them: lining toys up, or opening and closing a toy car door instead of "driving" it.

Generally, since people with autism have difficulties in speech, and perhaps their social impairment is greater than those with AS (this can be disputed), it "appears" that they aren't interested in interaction because they simply cannot do it (whether they want to or not is beside th epoint), whereas the person with AS "appears" to want to do it for they attempt it, but they really suck at it. The latter can lead to self-isolation after constant rejection, but look at it from someone as a child (<3). An autistic child will most likely appear aloof to everyone, where the child with AS will behave inappropriately around others compared to other children.

This is all in relation to the DSM-IV-TR; professionals don't all agree.

Concerning speech delay, I meet this. I spoke one to two words on time at the age of one to two, but I never progressed past this until 5. I spoke my first sentences then, but they were grammatically incorrect, I exchanged pronouns, and I spoke in third person a lot. Speech therapy for a year or so fixed my speech.

Depends on what diagnostic criteria the institution who views you uses. Some use Gillberg's AS criteria that allows a delay, but one must develop adequate speech, if not, you'll then be autistic.

You can only go from "LFA" to "HFA" if your IQ test as a child was inaccurate, as one's verbal ability wasn't developed at the time and the test wasn't suited to the individual.

Apparently, I didn't even talk to my parents until the age of 4, except for maybe one word sentences (and my trademark 'point and grunt' to get whatever I needed), but I never needed speech therapy. I don't know what that means clinically, but I don't think I should be labeled according to what happened to me when I was 4 years old, if it isn't still apparent today.

That's how the DSM-IV-TR is. People see the diagnostic criteria, and see that there's not much difference between the two, but they then neglect how it explains them in detail.

Motor mannerisms; rituals, and distress to change are all "HFA" traits. Note that these will be displayed very frequently. People with AS can have motor mannerisms due to trouble with anxiety and other emotions, but they aren't there almost constantly.

Take me: I curl my hand up almost constantly, I do everything in ritual, and I must keep it (I do mean everything), and I meltdown at simple change. A person with AS won't be like this under the DSM-IV-TR.

However, it does say that it's sometimes difficult to differentiate between the two, but this is probably due to only seeing someone in a clinical setting rather than out there.

Hence, the disagreement by professionals concerning a delay in speech when the person gains adequate speech as they develop.

Apparently, it's also hard for some professionals to distinguish between AS and ADHD, probably for that exact reason.

I'll also add, whilst Professor Attwood and his crew see "HFA" and AS as the same thing, they acknowledge the differences between the two as of the DSM-IV-TR, it's just that they find them more similar than they are different, i.e., severe social impairment and obsessions, and the treatment options are effectively the same. Hence, the same thing to them, even though they acknowledge that they are indeed different.

Also, when I stand, I constantly sway from side to side (not that most people could see it unless they stare directly at me), this level of "stimming" isn't seen in AS [for the most part].

I'll also add this from the DSM-IV-TR in relation to PDDs; I think it defines "qualitative impairments" adequately:

Distinctly deviant from someone your age.

My son Nelius is HFA.
He scores much better on non-language based tests than language based IQ tests. He thinks entirely in pictures, which explains his language difficulties - like learning a second language. Abstract terms are hard to translate into pictures. His humour is very special and often tied up with his visual thinking.

Talking to the other parents on WP it is evident that despite his good intellectual skills (maths is superb, reading normal for his age) he is much more socially inept, and his contact and communication skills are very poor.
Mainstreaming him would be very difficult for him to cope with.
He has virtually no NT friends.

I worry a lot about his future, as his self-help skills are very poor - I think my worries are different from the worries of parents to AS kids, who seem closer to NT. Their parents hope for a relatively "normal" life for their kids. Already now I realise my son's adult life will be different - I dream he can do his maths thing and excell at it, but think he will always need a lot of help on the personal front.

There's no need to worry for your son any more than you'd worry for someone without "HFA".

Don't expect "normal", nor push normal, and he'll be as happy as he can be. We're different, and we're not made for this society, but we can be happy when we aren't made to fit to it.

Society bases worth as a person on what you can achieve compared to others, not whether people are happy with their trappings. As long as I have my routine, the usual, I'm happy; I'm sure most people couldn't live how I do, but I'm not most people, nor have I known any different. I don't want any different.

The blind person who was born as such understands compared to the person who becomes blind later on in life, whether they are or not.

Thanks
I don't want normal for him, and I do want him to be happy!
I read posts especially by people diagnosed HFA and wonder if what I'm doing is "right" to get him where all of you are....

Cool. Many people apply what they think is best to others, and this is what makes...me unhappy, i.e., people think that others won't be happy because they don't do what the rest of humanity does. This thought is erroneous, and it's not thinking of the individual in question; let them be who they are, advise them, but don't push them where they're not prepared to walk.

I was diagnosed when I was 25 (last year); I had no treatment other than speech therapy, and my mother never pushed me to do something that I couldn't do (which is the best treatment for autism in my mind). I couldn't take the bus, I couldn't study, I had to have every other day off from school (this is all post-puberty), and she saw how I couldn't do these things, so she never forced me. If I had have been forced to do things I cannot do, I would have been far worst than what I was, and am. I had a professional tell me that everything fell into place for me, and that my mother just knew, with her being close to me, she could pick up on my emotions when no one knew how I was feeling for I never verbalized them.

I don't work (disability pension); I live with my mother, and I have a really good friend that I met on the 'net (without the 'net, I couldn't meet anyone). I left high school early due to autism; I failed all of it.

I'm certain I'll be able to work, but I'll never work at the level of my cognitive ability, and that's fine with me for I'll always do something I like, not what's seen as the "ideal". Most people with "HFA" have a similar outcome to me, the details just change.

I'm happy.