my autism is mild but not asperger's syndrome

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so I have high functioning autism?

Mild as in...
Less severity and easier to compensate with, or having more than enough compensation abilities to keep up with more severity?


But sure, Autism without intellectual disability is the textbook's definition of High Functioning Autism.
The main difference of HFA from Aspergers is that AS doesn't not have speech delay when HFA does.


And, well... Books says Aspergers is an outdated term, practically replaced with Level 1 Autism.

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Weren't you getting assessed recently? Did they not clarify what functioning level you were, or what support level you were, and just told you it's "mild"? Did they say what got you a "mild" autism diagnosis?

According to autism.org.uk:

"A clinician might describe someone as having an Asperger syndrome profile if there has been no clinically significant delay in language or cognitive development but they still have social communication difficulties. They may also have specific delays in motor development as well as motor 'clumsiness'.

So, if you have had a language delay (i.e. started speaking late) or a cognitive disability (below average IQ), then you probably don't have Asperger's.

I was formerly on the more 'severe'/'low-functioning' end of the autistic spectrum with significant language delay but have been relatively high-functioning now for the past 12-13 years. However, though my language skills have since caught up, I still have a mild intellectual disability so you couldn't really call my autism 'Asperger's'.

AS will not be given as a diagnosis currently. Before, AS meant there was no language delay, HFA meant there was. Now there is no language delay requirement for an ASD diagnosis.

Levels 1-3 are all there is now to the diagnosis. 1 is clearly on the more AS/HFA side, and 3 more classic autism. The overlap is 2 which is somewhat of a more gray area.

ASD level of severity is not technically a matter of IQ. There may be correlations, but there is no specific requirement for IQ with regards to diagnosis of the levels.

You can be level 1 with a relatively low IQ (below average), but I think if it's sufficiently low to qualify for an intellectual disability, this means you're at least level 2.

Well, I think that autistic traits are probably more along the lines of being on a spectrum rather than a clear "this person has autism, that person does not" sort of situation. Under the current rules, you couldn't get diagnosed with Asperger's. It is possible that some professionals give "mild autism" diagnoses to folks they would have formerly given Asperger's diagnoses to. Some people still think of Asperger's as "mild autism."

I also think that my autism is probably mild compared to many folks on the spectrum. I am probably closer to being neurotypical than a lot of autistic folks. If I ever did get a formal diagnosis, I'd be willing to guess that I would get a level 1 diagnosis. Then again, a lot of it is learned behavior and coping mechanisms over the course of a lifetime, so it's hard to say for sure.

Still, even folks with "mild autism" can struggle a great deal, especially with social relationships and making friends. We need help just like folks who have more severe levels of autism!

HFA = speech delay. Aspergers = no speech delay.

HFA=is not and never was a real diagnosis. Asperger's is autism without a clinically significant speech delay. Asperger's is not ASD Level 1. Anyone who has a well-established DSM-IV Asperger's diagnosis is to be given an ASD diagnosis. The "severity level" of a person formerly diagnosed with Asperger's could be any of the levels, theoretically.

There are certainly “Aspergians” who could be “Level 2.”