AS and speech delay

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Hallo,

I write from Italy. I'm father of a child 4,5 years old with PDD. I would like to know, from your personal experiences, if a speech delay and/or marked speech difficulties are possible with asperger's syndrome.
If they are, until which age is it possible to show a delay, still being within an asperger diagnosis??
Thank you for your help!

byeee!
Shout

for a true dx of AS- you can not have a speech delay, period. That is where the fine line of the PDD-NOS/ HFA comes, in I guess. To have the dx of PDD-NOS the "subject" has the characteristics but just does not fit in nicely to any particular PDD.
There are some doctors who may give a dx of AS if there is a speech delay; but technically that should not be the dx..... PDD-NOS or HFA should be.
This is in the states that I am referring to, but I believe aboard it is more of a certain that the dx would not be AS if there is a speech delay.
Michele

Asperger's is defined in section 299.80 of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) as:

Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:
Marked impairments in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body posture, and gestures to regulate social interaction
Failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level
A lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interest or achievements with other people (e.g., by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people)
A lack of social or emotional reciprocity
Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:
Encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus
Apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals
Stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)
Persistent preoccupation with parts of objects.
The disturbance causes clinically significant impairments in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g., single words used by age two years, communicative phrases used by age three years)
There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills or adaptive behavior (other than in social interaction) and curiosity about the environment in childhood
Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia.

I just wanted to clarify that when I said no delay in language- I did not mean no delay in pragmatic language.....
Michele

shellfd- This is in the states that I am referring to, but I believe aboard it is more of a certain that the dx would not be AS if there is a speech delay.

In fact I live in the UK, and I think its actually more flexible here, not less. My son was dx with childhood autism, as his language improved it was raised to HFA. Then currently HFA/AS, though he had significant language delay. Especially with early diagnosis, a child can show a lot of improvement in the area of speech.

I was given the impression that AS has no speech delay- just a delay in understanding speech...if that makes sense. Its supposed to be one of the things that marks Aspies out from the rest of the autism spectrum. If there is a speech delay and AS then there might be another disorder involved.

yes, that is true....
while even though one could have a dx of autism or PDD-NOS (because lack of language) the person can progress and develope language but could not turn into an AS dx.....(in true aspie criteria)that is how they get the HFA label....
it is like the PDD-NOS is a mix of autism and AS- a little of this and a little of that but not fitting nice into either...

Oh, and I am not stating that some doctors will not change the dx into AS; but technically it should not be an AS dx if there ever was a delay in language...
Michele

I was diagnosed Asperger's Syndrome PDD/NOS.

I did not speak until I was four years old.

I was diagnosed with ADD when I was 8 or 9, and then rediagnosed with ADHD sometime during my preteen years. I was diagnosed with Asperger's in 2003.

I learned to speak and read and write very early, I think. So I wasn't unusual in that way but my parents called me "The Robot Man" for obvious reasons.

[quote="hilarythebaker"]I did not speak until I was four years old.

It means you knew how to speak but you did not use communication until you were four, or you just started to develop gradually words and sentences at that age ?
thank you for clearifying
shout