Can someone have more than 1 autistic spectrum disorder?

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At my doctor's office they have list of conditions written down that I have. They have Asperger's and infantile autism. I don't know why they have both down. I never asked. I did ask about infantile autism and they said it's what they have down for my Asperger's but I didn't even think to ask why both labels. Now I wish I did ask but didn't think of it then. But it would have been awkward to ask it out of the blue so I never asked the next time I was there.


Oh and "Jumping down your throat" means getting on someone's case as in yelling at them.

It's like this:

Each circle represents a group of traits. Where they overlap, that means two diagnoses share those traits. For example, Asperger's shares almost all of its traits with Autistic Disorder, except for the "normal curiosity about the environment" trait, which is represented by the small pink section.

The whole diagram could be labeled "Autism" or "Pervasive Developmental Disorders", depending on how technical you wanted to get.

The diagnoses take precedence like this (you get diagnosed with the first one on the list that you qualify for):
Rett's
CDD
Autistic disorder
Asperger's
PDD-NOS

Most cases, as I've said, filter through the list and stop all the way at the bottom, at PDD-NOS.

Hmm, come to think of it, that diagram should be slightly different--Rett's should overlap with CDD and classic autism a little, because it shares speech loss with CDD and repetitive motion with classic autism. Oops. Pretend it does.

I might be a bit of an Aspie, but I also have a mild case of dyslexia, so yeah I think so.

Maybe the confusion comes from the terminology.

"Autism" is a synonym for "Pervasive Developmental Disorder". Both are names for the category of PDDs that includes Asperger's, classic autism, Rett's, CDD, and PDD-NOS.

"Autism" is also a synonym for "Classic Autism" or "Kanner Syndrome", which is a specific disorder within the category of pervasive developmental disorders.

"Pervasive Developmental Disorder" is a name for autism in general. But "PDD-NOS", or "Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified," is a specific autism spectrum disorder. PDD-NOS is also known as "atypical autism".

So, if your diagnosis is PDD-NOS, you could correctly say:
"I have PDD-NOS."
"I have atypical autism."
"I have a PDD."
"I'm autistic."

The first two refer to the specific diagnosis; the second two refer to the general category. It is like saying, "I have a simple fracture of the right radius," versus, "I have a broken bone."

To add even more confusion, "Autism" can refer to both classic autism and autism in general. So, someone diagnosed with classic autism could say:
"I have Kanner's syndrome."
"I have classic autism."
"I have autistic disorder."
"I have a PDD."
"I'm autistic."

The first three in that case are the specific diagnosis; the last two are the general category.

The range of statements for Asperger's, in case you were wondering:
"I have Asperger Syndrome/Asperger Disorder."
"I have a PDD."
"I'm autistic."

I meant PDDNOS, not PDD

I'm so used to talking to neurotypicals I've picked up a lot of mannerisms. Only recently have I discovered that I'm not like them and that's why they think I'm so weird.

Sometimes I think I'm just an NT who was raised in an Aspie family.

I know somebody who is quite non-verbal, but is high-functioning. She doesn't stim or have any sensory issues or anything like that. She does a job where she stacks boxes in a warehouse. She is just like an NT but without the verbal part. When she does talk, it comes out as a tiny squeak that seems to get lost in her throat, and some words she doesn't finish off. She is very, very non-verbal at social situations. She sits very still and doesn't even laugh - just smiles a tiny bit. But otherwise, she does laugh and smile all the time, in fact, laughing and smiling is her main way of communicating in general. Maybe she's more verbal at home, I don't know.

I don't quite know what this disorder is.

A proper understanding of what autism in general actually is would render this entire thread superfluous.

How am I supposed to know? I'm not a doctor and I haven't met the girl! It's possible to have extreme speech issues and minor traits in every other area and be diagnosed autistic, though. Or you could have just the lack of speech and they'd just say "aphasia"...