Criterion E

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But the DSM also says (I think)

It seems to contradict itself.. it says that children with AS do develop age-appropriate self-help skills, just not in social areas.

i had difficulty with age-appropriate self-help skills.
i drank out of a bottle (on preference) till I was about 7
I had trouble with personal hygiene and dressing myself up through High School...albiet it gradually got easier.

I was ridiculously bad at tying my shoes...so I wound up with the velcro kind...I was very bad at dressing myself...so I got teased...I wore shirts backwards...or way too large...boys clothes...boys eyeglass frames...My hair was always ragged....

I was a mess....If all this counts as age-appropriate self-help skills that I lacked...then according to the DSM-V i might be pushed into the PDD-NOS category.

Weird...

I didn't have any verbal delays that I know of, but the self-help thing...DEFINITELY lacking there for an embarrassingly long time

So I wonder where exactly that puts me...

I was a late delevoper and I walked slightly late (16 months) and talked a bit later too. I've caught up now on alot of things though like getting ready to go out myself and I go out on my own or with friends. When it comes to tying my shoe laces I was about 7/8-ish when I learned, which is sort of average I think. Even now I'm still not as mature or independant as my peers, not by many years but it's still apparent, so no I don't think I fit criterion E.

Slight delays don't count as delays, I think.. it's only if it gets significant. But I think that if there's a delay, that dosn't make it PDD-NOS, it makes it Kanner's.. or maybe HFA? (is HFA considered Kanner's? I know there's debate as to whether Asperger's is actually different from HFA or not.. maybe it's HFA if someone doesn't have mental retardation, but does have developmental delays that aren't social, as well as having the social ones? Does that make sense?)

I had delays in walking and talking, longer delays in tying a tie or shoe, never completely learned to swim or ride a bike. According to my mum I just didn't give a smeg. Does this mean I fail criterion E? (I have an actual diagnosis.)

My self help skills are very good. My ex had me thinking I lacked self help skilled and I was an idiot for that. He just had a weird definition of self help skills. I guess I am one of the classics here, I don't lack any self help skills. But I started washing my own hair at age ten and brushing my own hair and teeth when I was eight. I am not sure how old I was when I could dress myself. I was four when I could do it I know because I can remember getting dressed at a young age and I was doing it alone. I was also hard to potty train. I was three when I stopped wearing. Still the normal age to quit and I had accidents up until age five which is also normal because I've read in a parenting magazine to expect accidents in your child up till age six, so that means it was average of me to have accidents till age five. I was 14 months when I started walking. That's average for a kid too.

I don't think swimming is really a self help skill because there are plenty of people out there who still can't swim, autistic or not.
I wonder if cleaning counts as a self help skill? There are sure plenty of people out there who can't clean and I am talking about people who aren't autistic.


I think the criteria is crap. There are lot of people on here diagnosed with AS and have difficulty with self help skills so that means their doctors probably didn't agree what the criteria says or they have something else that causes their lack of self help skills. If someone has poor motor skills, should it disqualify them from meeting the criteria? If someone has incontinence, should that also disqualify them? If someone is lazy, should that disqualify them too?

i still have poor cognitive and self help as i said in my other post, but what i do notice a lot, i do a lot of things young kids with ASD do like echolalia is a lot of my language, i still run out in the street without realzing it, i have actually attemtped to jump out of a moving rollercoaster, i have walked into a huge body of water not realizing i can drown, stuff like this happens alla the time, i need a lot of sueprvision, cant do daily tasks that most ppl jus do without even notcing. The other day i saw a lightening bug and love running after them, it flew into the street so i took off at super speed, and didn't even hear the car screech its breaks stopping from hitting me, jus kept trying to catch the lightening bug, until finally my bfs friend gr4abbed me and put me in the car, didnt even notice. now i can tell myself now watch out for cars, dont jump out of moving anything haha, stuff like that, but no matter what i jus dont understand and at the moment i have virtually no thoughts going through my head its crazy.

my autism specialist today told me what seperates autism and aspergers and is the key component between the two is cognitive skills. People with aspergers dont have any cognitive impairments, but instead may have more social impairments. He said its verry uncommon for a person to be diagnosed with aspergers if they still cant speak a full sentence or if they still cant be able to take care of themselves for instance needing constant direction and assistance with every little thing, but even though its very uncommon, there are kids diagnosed with aspergers who have those problems, even though you dont always hear about it or realize it. I thought that was interesting to know.

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