Aspergers vs HFS

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Hello, as an autistic woman I was diagnosed with High functioning autism at 19 years old and I would like to know the differences between Aspergers and High Functioning Autism. I know Autism is more difficult to detect in girls compared to boys. I am very new to Autism and Its only been 1 year of getting my diagnosis. I am a 20 year old college student.

There is no difference. You were diagnosed under the DSM-5, which removed the Asperger's diagnosis from DSM-4. Basically, Asperger's is no longer a diagnosis. And to be accurate, neither is HFA. Rather you are level 1 ASD.

Tony Attwood has written on this: Is There a Difference Between Asperger's Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism

The conclusion is:

Welcome to Wrong Planet.

“High functioning autism” is a term is used to describe Autism with average to above average intelligence.

Aspergers is used to describe “High Functioning” autistics who do not have language issues prior to age three.

In my opinion whatever language difficulties you did or did not have before age three is probably irrelevant now that you are age 20.

That's not necessarily true. There are factors other than sex (such as level of severity) that can account for difficulty detecting autism in girls relative to detecting it in boys.

I thought "High functioning autism" described when an autistic functioned well and needed less support (that is, ASD Level 1). I understood above average intelligence was a frequent but not required attribute. And whether language skills were delayed or not was a distinction associated with Asperger Syndrome...which I gather is still a legit diagnosis in much of the world.

It makes sense to me that intelligence would help help someone function well despite being autistic. If an autistic did not have above average intelligence but still functioned well, then I would find that kind of impressive--personally, I find the world to be a bit of a challenge.

Last edited by Double Retired on 10 Oct 2020, 4:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

^ Quote sites a range: average - above average. So it indicates that anyone who is not of below average intelligence would be considered high functioning.

(But in any case these terms are no longer in the DSM as Jiheisho mentioned).

I really like the support level idea behind DSM-5. It seems we use "high functioning" when someone "appears" articulate (lets face it, that is a NT criteria if ever there was one). The problem is people that are articulate can actually require significant support in other areas that may not be obvious to others. While others that might be non-verbal, for example, my not need great levels of support beyond a method of communication. The level idea can simply identify what a person needs, regardless of specific presentation criteria (beyond having ASD, so it is contextual).

But I also get the problem of how do we connect to the NT world that does not appreciate what autism means. Asperger's/HFA does give some level of protection to deflect some negative stereotypes or reactions. Personally, I have just been using the label "autism" and then giving the elevator pitch of how it manifests in me in regards to a particular situation. But I am also lucky were I think my particular autism presentation and field lets me get away with it.

This is such a hard conversation because of so many factors involved for an individual.

You can also just move to Japan where no one can distinguish between behavior that is American or autistic...

But HFA isn't a diagnosis.
There are very few differences between what people call hfa none of the lines are really accurate because it doesn't exist as far as I know.
Asperger's is classified as having no verbal delay and therefore doesn't necessarily mean anything about your functioning level itself. I think one of the main ways people draw a line is based on iq. As people with Lower IQ would be "Low Functioning" Higher IQ be "High functioning" Therefore High functioning autism would presumably be someone who has speech problems or speech delay and has a average or higher IQ. But in reality there isn't really much difference and it's pretty much semantics. There have been many threads about this topic. It keeps coming up you should probably look at those. Even though you don't have either?

High Functioning Autism is not a diagnosis in any manual but from anecdotal evidence, it not uncommon for it to be given out.