Asperger and speech delay

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Recently, I read an excerpt of a book of neurologists (specialized in children) saying that one of main symptoms of Aspergers is... a speech delay.

About the DSM criteria (saying that a speech delay prevents a diagnosis of AS), he wrote that this is illogical and he, making diagnosis against the DSM, compares himself to the soldier who refuses to follow imoral orders of his generals (!).

What do you think? Makes sense to diagnose AS to people (in these case, children) with a speech delay and, specially, consider these perhaps the main symptom of AS?

Since the speech delay is apparently the ONLY criteria that differentiates Asperger and HFA, I consider the speech delay to be irrelevant. It's an occasionally coexistent phenomenon, but doesn't seem to define or even presage the disability in any significant way or to any useful extent.

Last edited by Willard on 22 Oct 2009, 5:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Consistent with the DSM criteria and the Wikipedia article, I had no delay in speech. I was using the word "splendid" at age four.

Yes, there was a thread on the speech delay subject a couple months back in which several of us noted that while we had (according to our childhood caregivers) had some delay in beginning to speak, it wasn't alarmingly significant and when we did start speaking, there was no visible learning curve - we just began speaking in complete sentences out of the blue, and with a noticeably advanced vocabulary for that age (usually between 2 and 2.5)

I posit the theory that the speech delay is a direct result of the social impairment, in that where NT infants recognize vocalizations as social signals very early on and immediately begin to mimic them in attempting to communicate, AS infants may be more likely to simply watch and absorb until they fully understand the significance of speech and only begin to use language when they feel confident they understand its purpose.

Apparently in the DSM V, they're likely to merge Aspergers and High Functioning Autism. I'd support this since they're almost clinically identical.

Both of my children had a speech delay and both had speech therapy. My eldest got Aspergers (he was older and had a couple of years of speech therapy behind him when he was diagnosed). His younger brother was diagnosed earlier and got HFA.

I asked Dr Tony Attwood about it, particularly about whether speech therapy and general speech improvement over time would "upgrade his diagnosis". That was when Tony mentioned the probable change to the DSM.

So... Assuming that they're one and the same, it's common but not necessarily a characteristic.

When I saw this I thought it was referring to Aspergers and our verbal processing speed.
I read an article that mentioned that people with Aspergers (it may have been talking about HFA as well, I don't remember the exact details) have a delayed verbal processing speed.
I'm going to post about it in a new thread - to see if anyone else has heard of this article.

Well I had a speech delay and that was because I had hearing loss so I can see why my psychiatrist would drop that part in the criteria for me. Criterias aren't always right and can be bull so they are mostly guidelines. I also notice how the AS criteria doesn't say when the symptoms need to be present by so that means an anorexic can meet the AS criteria. Also if you develope schizophrenia, wa laa you're cured form AS because you no longer meet the criteria. Also if you have poor motor skills so it effects your self help skills, you can't have AS accoridng to the criteria. That just shows how bull it is.

A LOT of things are "ILLOGICAL". Want me to tell you one? A doctor misdiagnosing because he believes that AS doesn't exist, so he diagnoses HFA or even LFA people as AS! Now THAT is illogical. Heck, why don't we call it all illogical, and decide that psychiatrists and psychologists are all QUACKS!

Hans Asperger had children with delayed verbal ability, so it's accurate enough. He also had people with LFA too (ha).

The DSM and its ilk are written up for the most socially able of Hans' group for AS, which were in the majority compared to Kanner's group, where the majority weren't as socially able.

Some people with the delay in speech end up more able socially, whereas others don't; this tends to define which label they're given (whether they ignore people, which is Autism, or they do the whole one-sided talking about the interest thingy, which is AS).

The Gillberg criteria include speech delay. Gilberg is a bit contradictory to the DSM and ICD.

OK, then autism doesn't exist! I mean sooner or later ANY NT function may have SOMEONE that is autistic. Heck, I bet a number here went to regular schools, like I did! SO, if an LFA at aspergers institute means that LFA people are AS, then AS people at an NT meeting means that AS people are NT. WOW, the end of autism in such a simple little post! WHO KNEW?

DON'T forget! If A=B and B=C then A=C! SO, LFA=AS=NT, so LFA people are NT!

My son i don't think had a speech delay according to some (yet according to others, he did). I just say he was a late talker. He started putting two words together at 3, but when he talked, he rarely had articulation problems. His sentences were complete. He is AS. My daughter strung two word together by two, a whole year earlier and she is the one in ST for articulation, and a mess of other language issues. She does not have AS, although i am keeping an eye on her.

I spoke early(and walked early, too!). And i definitely have AS. So i don't see how it could be a "main" symptom... Maybe some who would fall best under the AS diagnosis(despite the DSM criteria) had a speech delay, but a lot of us spoke early