How to distinguish HFA and aspergers?

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I heard Its when the Child first starts to speak?At what age does a Child with AS usually start to talk and one with high functioning classic autism? All you folks with aspergers, do you remember when you did it?

Dont know if its in the american system as well, but THE great difference in the european system are speech problems until the age of 3. When I got diagnosed in the autism specialist centre, according to the majority of my symptoms, I would have fitted far more into HFA, but I had no speech delays until 3, so they needed to diagnose me with Aspergers. ^^

So Aspergers should have no speech delays, HFA shall have them. ^^ In the end it doesnt matter anymore, because its all autism spectrum disorder now. ^^

In my experience, they've been used interchangeably.

From what I've seen, people with HFA have an easier time with socializing. Though I could be wrong.

Well im on the spectrum myself, diagnosed with PDD-NOS. They dont really know Where to put me.. Im getting confused to want to find it out! I started to speak fluently somwhere around 2 and a Half, is it considered as a general speech delay? My IQ is average or above somwhere between 109-125 or higher if i remember it right.. So what you guys think, AS or HFA? :p

Sorry i meaned started talking at 2\5 years :p

HFA = Asperger's. It is one and the same thing.

Speaking fluently by 2.5 years old seems like AS.

In adulthood, AS and HFA cannot be reliably distinguished, but in childhood, HFA children have more social/communication/language delays, and speaking fluently by age 2.5 fits AS bester than HFA.

The criteria often used in clinic and research is single words by age two and two-or-three word phrases by age three to distinguish AS from HFA.

aspies start speaking at the normal time that kids normally start to speak (whenever that is).

If there is a delay in aquiring speech then its called 'autism'.

If youre autistic, but are high functioning then your 'high functioning autistic'. But aspies are also "HFA" so in adults for practical purposes they are the same thing.

And since they have eliminated the aspergers label then for ALL purposes they are the same thing.

After my reassessment in 2010, I was diagnosed with autistic disorder, even though I was thinking I had Asperger syndrome in the months leading up to the re-diagnosis. This was mostly based on my early ability to speech, without any significant delay in that area. After my diagnosis of autistic disorder, people I spoke to offline, as well as right here on WrongPlanet, were baffled that I had not been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, and recommended that I contact the psychiatrist who had conducted the assessment and had made the diagnosis, to explain how she came to that conclusion. But at the time, I wasn't all that much interested in doing that, because I had not maintained a meaningful rapport with her.
I basically mainly consider my 2010 diagnosis and its report to be an addendum to the diagnoses made by the school psychiatrists who saw me when I was 7-ish, and all the other specialists and therapists I encountered while in school since.

@Asperger96: it's funny, my impression has been the exact opposite! Most people with Asperger syndrome that I've encountered seemed to fare slightly better in the department of socialization then the HFA's. Emphasis on 'slightly', and there have been exceptions on both 'sides'.

I spoke single words by age 2, BUT was using single word speech until age 4 or 5. I had poor articulation problems once I started using more than two words until age 7 or 8 (only my mom could understand me most of the time).

Do I only fit part of the past Asperger's criteria for speech fluency?