High Functioning Autism vs AS

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I joined WP to originally find out a bit about AS as I have always thought that was what I was diagnosed as when I was ten But I have never been brave enough to ask my mum if this was true- I only overheard it one day when she was one the phone, and I put two and two together (psychiatrist visits etc) assumed that was what I had!! !
But after a conversation last night it turns out that I was diagnosed with AS much younger than ten,and it was when I was ten that my diagnoses was changed to high functioning autism.
And I'm surprisingly happy to know at last - seven years later!!
So my question now- whats the difference between the two???

AS is considered high-functioning autism.

HFA (high-functioning autism) can be used as a separate term for those with classic autism who are "high-functioning" (subjective.)

The only difference between Asperger's Syndrome and classic autism is that people with Asperger's typically lack a speech delay. I know that some people get the classic autism label regardless just to get more services in school, because the difference isn't really present.

Most of the time people are first diagnosed with classic autism and then get an Asperger's label later, which is why I assume it might be for obtaining services easier or merely being evaluated by a different person.

From what I can tell, there isn't any definitive difference.

When a child is DXed with autism and improves to be DXed as 'high functioning' parents compare them with what they could have been ("low") functioning and are gratified and happy with their progress. When a child is DXed with Asperger's Syndrome, parents compare their progress with 'neurotypical' children and frustrated in their expectations and are not as satisfied .

Tony Atwood says that in his complete guide to Asperger's Syndrome.

See that white rectangle thing on the top right of the forum? It's a search box. If you'd used it, you'd have gotten a load of answers from the other 1000+ threads on here asking the exact same question.

I've not grasped the point here because AS is classed as HFA.

It's not a point, it's a question. And some of the answers pretty much agree with you.

Wow thanks for the responses, awkward for about the search box!! ! I just assumed that google custom search meant it search within google for related words, but I'll give it a shot!!
Ok, so there isn't any difference apart from speech delays in aspies? And AS is classified as HFA?
Think I've got it- makes sense as I learnt speech pretty okay.
I'll do some broader google searches as well.
And yes, I do believe my diagnoses may be lenient towards HFA as it does come under health services, and I have a single parent...
But then my brother was def labled as Aspie, so why wasn't I? Hmmmm, I think I need to do my own research at home, but thanks to all who have contributed.

I tried asking my mum what kind of autism I had when I first signed up.She replied that I had "High-functioning" Autism.
According to her,when I was diagnosed,I didn't meet much of the criteria that would define me with Asperger's.
I was quite confused,so I talked to some of my teachers and classmates at school about what is the difference between High-functioning and Asperger's.
As a result,that's how I found out about different opinions on that topic.
At least one or two of them said that Asperger's and high functioning are the same,others said there is a difference(my mum especially).Still confused,but apparently mum told me I'm really like a normal person,just that I have a form of autism.

That's true of every autistic person. The differences are due to the degree of autistic traits the person manifests.

High functioning autistics still have autism. They just don't have severe autistic symptoms.

They usually diagnose you with "high-functioning autism" instead of "Asperger's" if you had some difficulty learning to talk. But once you do learn to talk, it's not really much different. Some people who are diagnosed with "high-functioning autism" learned to talk on time. Some people who are diagnosed with "Asperger's" have a lot of trouble taking care of themselves and are more disabled than most people diagnosed with "high-functioning autism".

If there is a difference, it's vague and nobody agrees on exactly what it is. No wonder we're confused. But sometimes, when you're confused and you want answers to your questions, it turns out that there aren't really any answers because nobody ever got together and decided on one definition per term, instead of half-a-dozen that everybody disagrees on.

My answer to the whole mess is just to say "autism" and leave it at that. Or "autism spectrum disorder", if I want to be clear that I'm talking about all of autism instead of some vaguely defined subtype.

Sussex Partnership Trust, one of the NHS Trusts that provided a provisional (but did bugger all to get a confirmed) diagnosis frequently used the term 'he has markedly-abnormal conversational skills and he memorises and repeats postcodes which I would suggest is in-keeping with High-Functioning Autism'

However, where I was officially diagnosed, they said 'F84.5: Asperger's Syndrome' and given there is no ICD code for so-called HFA, I can't really see how it can be, well, official.

But F84.1 is atypical Autism; no HFA code.

One person who I watched on YouTube suggested it had to do with the level of social interest. People with Asperger's are as interested in social interaction as normal people are, but are just very clumsy at it and they often get anxious. With HFA, on the other hand, you have a decreased level of interest and less anxiety. So that's one idea.

Technically, I should not have been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, because of my speech delay (or as Sarah81 puts it, severe language disorder and moderate articulation disorder in Kindergarten). Neverhteless, it is what it is.

Also, I wonder about some differences in kids who don't speak yet, those who compensate using gestures, nonverbal sounds, etc., and those who don't compensate.

Technically, I may not fit the criteria for Asperger's as written: I did speak single words by age 2 (10 single words were my total spoken vocabulary then) but not "communicative phrases by age 3". Until almost age 5 did I finally start saying more than a single word and gesturing for something.

I also had poor articulation and speech problems (still by age 7 only my mom could understand most of what I said).

Uhhhm, I'm diagnosed with Asperger's, and I am not very interested in learning about the way I am supposed to socially interact. I have a decreased level of interest in it. My counselor said, "She's not quite there yet," as if she is expecting me to become there.

it is just autism with normal IQ.