Can anyone please tell me....

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Can you please tell me The difference Between Aspergers and Autism?

My Child Psychologist is implying that DS has Autism... Yet my friend seems to be going on about him having Aspergers? It seems all the same to me in essence!

I'm a little confused... I was under the impression that the only difference is that ASD has language difficulties? I'm so confused because the two to me seem very much the same so I dont understand why they are named differently.

Can someone please educate me

Thanking you all

As much as wikipedia butchers ASDs simply because of the way they approach everything, look at wikipedia. AS is supposedly higher functioning than autism.

I always thought having Autism is like living in a dream world, while having Asperger's is like having one foot in that dream world and the other one in the real world.

But I'm no professional, so I could be wrong.

Thanks for your replies...

So would you say that "high Functioning Autism" is "Aspergers"?

My psychologist, who has been dealing with the autistic spectrum for over 20 years, told me that there are differences between HFA and AS despite just a language delay. She said people with AS in most cases seem to have a particular speech pattern that she doesn't see in people with HFA or other forms of autism. She said there were other differences as well. In fact, she told me that she is extremely surprised that I did not have a known language delay as a child, because to her I sound more HFA than AS. I am also inattentive ADHD, so it is very difficult for me to try and replay everything she said to me. But I take her word for it since she deals with nothing but autistic people on a daily basis. She also was the first person to diagnose Asperger's syndrome in my area about 17 years ago and is my region's leading Asperger's expert.

But the general difference between just plain "autism" and Asperger's is quite great from everything I have read, though they say Asperger's is basically a spectrum in itself. I believe when all is said and done, I will be classified as atypical Asperger's due to the fact that to my psychologist I seem more HFA than AS but didn't have a language delay.

By the way, this website <click here> will most likely answer all your questions.

Thanks Guys

You know... In my personal opinion I think that they should all be called Autism with a particular level.... IE Low Mid High etc... Too many names... too confusing... VERY Similar symptoms/signs...Why not call it the same thing!?

I'm also aware of another disorder called (something) pragmatic disorder?... I recall the symptoms being extremely close to Autism also...There's just way too many names for Autism in my opinion. (I hope no one is offended by this)

My DS has all of the Autsim traits... But its "high functioning" (Yet to be given a "formal Name" His Language was very delayed. He's almost four and has only been talking proper sentences in the last 6 months, and still has alot of trouble with pronouncing many words.

Same areas of impairment, different manifestation.

In the realm of social impairment (there's a few other areas too):

Autism = socially aloof (ignores people; treats people as if they don't exist, etcetera, and with a lack and appreciation of nonverbal cues), or rarely, socially passive (lets people interact with her, but doesn't initiate anything; with all of the usual nonverbal cues lacking, of course)

Asperger's = socially odd (attempts to initiate social contact, but doesn't know how to do it, so appears odd, eccentric, rude, one-sided and verbose in many cases, etcetera, with a lack of the same nonverbal cues as in Autism), and socially pedantic/formal (constantly apologizes, whether it's needed or not, due to past failures in social interaction by saying the wrong thing; appears "calm and in control" oftentimes; sticks to social rules that she has learnt, and also lacks the usual nonverbal cues)

This above is taken from Wing's observations of a whole slew of children with an ASD (the lady who defined the current definition of AS); the aloof and passive groups tend to be labelled with Autism, and the odd/eccentric and stilted/formal groups tend to have the AS label.

The aloof group is the most common of all of them, and these individuals tend to have Kanner's Autism--as they develop, the picture tends to change in regards to the level of social and emotional aloofness, but it's usually always there to some extent, as social and emotional withdrawal are more common amongst adults with Autism compared to those with AS (I'm including social failures in as socialisation).

Keep in mind, this is only from my own experiences. Not a doctor.

I know two people with HFA. Lived next door to one, worked with another. One thing that they both had in common was a slow, breathy voice. Because of this, many people assume that they are ret*d, if not below-average in the IQ spectrum. While they tended to be a bit better at making small talk than some of the AS people I know, it was more obvious that it is rehearsed. And people tended to give stock responses, then proceeded to ignore them.

Out of all of the AS people I know, only one girl I met at an AS function has the same way of speaking. And for all I know, she could have been misdiagnosed. Especially considering that the World Health Org IDO criteria for AS and HFA are identical. And some psychologists are just more likely to go with the higher-functioning label to make the parents feel better.

All of the other AS people I know come off as "bright, but odd". While the HFA people (and this one girl, who even if she was genuine AS, was rather severe) come off as "slow". While the people with AS might occasionally make more faux-pas, because they have either a normal or formal tone of voice, people are more willing to overlook it. Or, just correct them. But they are less likely to be patronized, or ignored outright.

My impression is it depends who you ask. Someone posted a link where it was saying that, according to a study, if the DSM criteria were followed strictly, no one would qualify for an Asperger's diagnosis. That's because everyone who would otherwise qualify also qualifies for an autism diagnosis (which does not actually require a language delay, by the way), and that disqualifies someone from and Asperger's diagnosis.

My way of thinking of it is that Asperger's is a form of autism. Those with Asperger's have autism, but not everyone with autism has Asperger's.