Classic Autistics?

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There seems to be LOADS of Asperger's people here, but are there any classic Autistic? I.E had the Language delay? I know they're practically the same, but still, I'm not Asperger's so it'd be nice to see if anyone else is Kanner's?

I have High Functioning Autism. Though I don't really like the whole leveling thing though in reality my psychiatirst says I'm moderate to high functioning. I don't know if that's classic autism though? I'm not good with the terminology.. I just know I don't have Asperger's.

There are definitely some Classic Auties on here. Danielismyname, Age1600, anbuend, Strapples, and KingdomOfRats come to mind, though there are others as well. I hope it's okay that I posted specific names on here.

Me!

I didn't have a speech delay, but my conversation skills were screwed up. Also, Aspeger's says "no clinically significant delay in self help skills" and (this is a paraphrase) "no lack of curiosity about the environment." I had both of those. So, HFA fits better, and thus my diagnosis is "autistic disorder," if you ask the doctor.

Hi

I'm glad this question was posted because I've been mulling over a way to ask basically the same question. It seems to me there are more differences than the language delay isn't there? Aren't people with Asperger's more apt to desire a connection with others and more likely to attempt it? Is there a difference in how verbal you are about your special interest?

Age1600 has classic autism.

Asperger's and PDD-NOS are just more common, and more likely to want to/be able to use a computer. Of course that's probably because docs will stereotype anybody who can use a computer as "asperger's" just 'cause it's that geeky... Depending on the doc, I'm either Asperger's or PDD-NOS even though technically I could also be diagnosed classic autism... yeesh! Do I need to lecture yet again about exactly why the DSM diagnostic categories are completely and utterly messed up?

Anyway. Whatever you call it, I am very glad that we have a variety of autism types here and I would very much like to increase the variety... so if you know somebody with a particularly interesting sort of brain, please do invite them over here.

To be broad, it's mainly how the social behaviour manifests that separate the two, and I suppose how severe the desire for routine/structure affects the person.

Generally, people born with AS usually end up as odd and eccentric or overly formal and pedantic as adults, with a clear overt attempt to fit it (even if they didn't as children), whereas those with AD appear uninterested in social and emotional connections (which is thought mainly due to the greater difficulty in social interaction in the latter disorder nowadays). However, the latter, if high functioning enough, usually form a bond or two with those close to them (a carer for example). In clinical and mechanical settings, the higher functioning people with AD will appear indistinguishable to those with AS for the most part.

Speech delay also means understanding speech, not just speaking; there's receptive and expressive speech, and both are affected (though to differing amounts).

Thanks Danielismyname, my son is diagnosed with Asperger's and while he has intense interests he does not fit the classic idea of one who will speak about his interests often, complete with detailed facts. He did not use expressive language until he was 4 but it was clear early on that he had good receptive language skills. I know someone who's nephew has Asperger's and he is the kid to go to if you want to know anything about when a movie is due to be released and how long before it goes to DVD.

Because I was raised in a time and place before there were psychologists and diagnoses, and because my parents are deceased, I can only suspect that I am a classic autist. I don't know when I started speaking, but I know my mother told me I was late to walk, and I certainly wasn't reading before I went to school.

Like Age1600, I am indifferent to people's reactions to my social deficits (and always have been); quite different from the extreme sensitivity expressed by many here. I recently saw a twenty page thread here about ways AS had been rejected and I couldn't even think of one related to me. Not because I haven't been rejected, but because I care so little that I don't remember.

Also, I have no interest in making friends and don't relate to the intense desire/need of many here for friendship. I have developed bonds with a few people with whom I have lived.

I was never like the "little professors" described by Hans Asperger. I was a continous and prominent flapper for my first years in school, and certainly had no interest in extended conversation.

Anyway, I am not sure how to classify myself but would be interested in others' thoughts if anyone has an opinion .

That helps put things in perspective.

yes i have moderate autism, ive been diagnosed with functioning autistic disorder actually, not high, not low. i jus dont post as much anymore unfortunely after i got harrassed by ppl aking my wp posts out of context and postin them everywhere i stopped for a bit, then came bakc, but barely have time to post actually losing interst in the whole internet, post on ning jus to help parents then leave, should start coming back more maybe soon, when my brain decides to do so haha.

I had to edit because wanted to say it was ok for saying my name eheheh

Last edited by Age1600 on 04 Oct 2009, 10:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

One book that I read about autism in adults (Autism and Aspergers Syndrome - Preparing for Adulthood) noted something similar and that there was probably little value in using those terms to describe adults because there was little difference in presentation.

I only know of my diagnosis from what my parents have told me or I've found out (from eavesdropping) and what my various doctors/counselors/psychiatrists/psychologists have told me. I have an Aspergers diagnosis but there is a lot of conflict to whether or not I am high functioning or low functioning. I don't know what the difference is between high functioning autism and low functioning autism so I can't say exactly where I fit.

Yeah, all the criteria have it put down as "childhood disorder" so they focus on kids when they write the criteria. That's a big part of the silliness, I think, because how a kid is at four is hugely different from how he is at fourteen or forty. And then there's a bunch of people who think, "Oh, my kid is non-verbal at four, so because he learned to speak by ten, I must have done something miraculous" when he's only following the same developmental path about 80-90% of autistic non-verbal four year olds follow by eventually learning speech. People think that for some reason because we're autistic, we stay at the same developmental level we start at; but that's just plain silly. You don't expect an autistic ten-year-old to be the same as an autistic four-year-old, any more than you could reasonably expect an NT ten-year-old to be illiterate because he couldn't read at four.

I do not get this Language delay stuff at all. They say I had a Language delay but the one that gave me my DX says that the Language delay I had was not very bad (yes it was.) and that I am ok with it now. (not 100%) so she says I have Asperger's.