Difference between AS and HFA

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It seems like everywhere I look there is a different answer as to the difference between AS and High Functioning Autism....I get the general impression that HFA is more severe but then some sources say they are the same thing. So could someone set the record straight for me?

Officially the only difference between AS and HFA is in HFA theres a delay in language development that isnt present in AS.

In practice though HFA is often used to indicate a severe form of AS without the significant debilitation found in Kanner type autism.

Somebody with Aspergers usually doesn't have any developmental or speech delay. High Functioning Autism does, but people with Aspergers also usually get the label as little professors while people with High Functioning Autism don't. A lot of people also say people with Aspergers usually have a above average IQ, and HFA usually have just an average IQ. I don't know if thats true though. I have HFA and some people say I have above average IQ so I don't know. I do know I wasn't a little professor growing up, I could barely talk for pete sakes haha.

AS reguires an IQ of normal or higher and, I believe, once required 100 or higher. HFA doesn't have any REAL floor, it depends on where the disability is. Then again, it doesn't have a ceiling either.

Last edited by 2ukenkerl on 31 Jul 2007, 7:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Those were kind of the same conclusions I was coming to by meshing everything together. So I guess Einstein was HFA and not AS as commonly believed because he didn't speak until later in his childhood?

i knew it was somethin like that, jeeze, my childhood DX of HFA makes me feel so.... less then compaired to u aspies, hehehehe

i always assumed, as i got older and better at socializing, and other stuff, that I could be upgraded to aspie, i wonder if thats accurate or could i forever be HFA no matter how I am as an adult?

awsome topic guys!

The distinction between the two seems entirely arbitrary. If you are autistic, but have a high IQ and no particular delay in language development, you magically become an aspie. It's like saying "No, this isn't ice cream. It has egg in it. It's frozen custard"

I'm sure this will be sorted out when the genetics are better understood. In the meantime, the distinction seems rather meaningless.

There apparently are a lot of myths about einstein. I guess we may always wonder. I AM heartened to know that he was judicious to some degree about what he learned, and didn't pick up things much better than I do. I know that because of how he described his failure at french. He simply didn't feel it worth his time.

Last edited by 2ukenkerl on 31 Jul 2007, 7:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

In some cases the doctors may even recommend that HFA is a more practical dx,simply
if it allows access to support services and benefits geared to 'Autism' as these are likely
to be more widespread in many places.Assuming the main difference being a language delay in childhood,for an adult it could be argued that HFA and AS could almost be interchangeable.

"HFA" doesn't exist in the diagnostic manual (it's not "official"); it was invented for people like me to create some sort of impasse for those psychics who feel that if you can type and/or dress yourself, you don't have autistic disorder (this is the "misconception" of autistic disorder); most psychics and professionals know better.

Asperger's is "mild" autism.

E: I like this definition [that's taken from an eMedicine article]:

"Individuals with Asperger disorder are often seen as having a milder version of autism. Similar to autism, patients with Asperger disorder have restricted and stereotyped behavior patterns and interests, plus significant social impairments. However, unlike autism, patients with Asperger disorder have much less impairment in cognitive development and have no significant general delay in language development."

Article on autism and ASD which explains the differences between the two.

i think HFA should be a diagnostic category. dont know why it isnt but,.

they're revamping everything... so soon we should have an answer!

The textbooks I've read note no significant difference between HFA and AS.
Many of them claim that you can use the terms interchangably.

really? so maybe HFA is more related to AS than Classic Autism?

if someone asks me, i tell them i have aspringers, not that I had HFA as a child, just sounds better, their is slight differences so im not really lying am I?