Classic Autistics?

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Hmph. Somebody obviously hasn't been reading their diagnostic criteria. If you had a language delay, you can't be diagnosed with Asperger's.

But then, there are lots of psychs who ignore that, and diagnose speech delayed people with Asperger's anyway. That could be part of the problem with people stereotyping classic autistics as non-verbal--half the time a psychologist who doesn't know how to do a decent differential diagnosis slaps 'em with Asperger's even though there most certainly WAS a speech delay, just because he thinks he's doing them a favor to give them a diagnosis that doesn't say "autism" in the name... like "autism" is some kind of a dirty word!

I still don't get it sorry. I had the same question.
I've understood that HFA and AS are basically the same (HFA = AS + delay language when child). But classical autism? Is it simply a super-effect?
I try to explain. When I was young I had many many times the will to simply shout-up for all my life, be alone and avoid anybody. But then there was always something to do. Understand a new physical law (I must ask the professor) or also make my mum happy (was the only one with wich I had a bound as a child) so I forced myself to "go-out". So, classical autism simply "lack" that? Or there is something more?

My original diagnosis pre-dates the introduction of the Aspergers diagnosis; through the various changes in diagnostic criteria I'm still best described as having autism.

But I'm not here much, and after several years of occasionally lurking this is my first post.

Classic autism, pddnos is not jus language delay. For my my neurologist explained sicne i have cognitive impairments, very poor self help skills, poor communication even as an adult, and dont seem to have any interest in socializing or attemtping to socializing, like for example i cant really make connections or have relationships with ppl, its very hard, i have a bf and thats basiclaly all i can handle lol. I still think to myself though severe pddnos fits me better though because there are aspects of me that are high functioning, like im getting better disaplyin facial expressions adn body language during sign language, adn given eye contact during sign language, i can do laundry with assistance but can, i do have a bf, and am in college setting classroom even tho i need constant assistance, just ohter stuff that most ppl say classic autisitcs cant do, even tho i dont believe ppl, jus sometimes in my heart i feel severe pddnos fits me better. anywho, with every diagnosis though, even with aspergers their can be language delay, can be mild or severely affected. each individual has hf parts of them and lf parts of them, jus which part defines them the most kinda defines ur functionin label. idk hard to explain, i think i confused myself, is anybody else understanding me lol if so lemme know lol

Whilst I'm of the opinion now that it's hard to create clear boundaries [within those with an ASD], I'll give you the text from the current DSM-IV-TR that shows the differences:

Ok. I got the difference. But it's actually a difference in brain structure or a difference in temperament (or both)? I can understand that having more impairment with language/stim/etc.. abviously take you away from people but it seems to me that is actually also a "don't want to comunicate" over an inability to do it, isn't it?

Different areas of the brain are affected in both disorders when you separate them via language delay, well, that's what that recent study finds.

Current thinking is that those who appear aloof are such due to a more severe impairment, rather than a lack of desire/will to form connections. This can be seen in those with traditional HFA (see: Rain Man), who do form a connection to a single parent or carer, even from an early age, and become genuinely attached emotionally. Those who're more severe than this oftentimes can't even do this, so it appears like they're constantly in their own world, but if we look at it as a spectrum of severity, these people "should" be the same as those with HFA or AS in desire/will.

Thanks, Age!

Makes sense to me, Age.

My highest functioning part is my IQ and in the classroom I do really, really well. But I have poor self-help skills, language issues, a lot of executive function issues (as in, have trouble completing one simple task, sometimes). I stim a lot, so much that it takes time away from things I should be doing! I have one best friend who I love to see in person adn I like to email/text, but I can't talk on the phone. I do care about her, but I don't really want to have other friends or know other people. Sometimes I just walk away from people who are trying to talk to me. If someone provides me with an organization system for how to remember to do things, like I have a white board, calander, and cards with chores for each day of the week on the back of the basement door tha tmy parents made and helped me start using, I can do the chores. It just takes me longer because I have trouble completing tasks and I get lost in stimming sometimes. I have a really hard time stopping on thing to start doing another.

Basically, if I'm able to socialize, sometimes I seem like I have Asperger's. When I get excited or stressed or overwhelmed, though, you can tell that it's more severe than that.

Welcome JustJim!

i have aspergers but i coudnt talk until i was 7 years old

SuperTrouper wrote:

Thank you for writing that. I feel the same way, but people seem to have extreme difficulty accepting it. I made the mistake of saying something like this in response to a question from a GP and he wanted me to immediately consult a psychiatrist!! !

DSM:



The DSM talks about "no clinically significant general delay", and they say that, if you use single words by 2 and communicative phrases by 3 , you don't have a clinically significant general delay.

But I imagine that some (many?) children with a mild speech delay will have single words by 2 r communicative phreses by 3

I I understand, HFA is classical autism (I think the difference about HFA and the other "classical autism" is only of cognitive level - if you have classical autism and don't have mental retardation, you have HFA).

You come here and participate in conversations. That counts as a type of socializing, I think.

Yes, that is the most official distinction. However, it has been contaminated by assumptions about functioning in areas that have nothing to do with IQ whatsoever, eg. self-care skills, behavior problems, etc. I used to live with some autistics with IQs in the borderline intellectual functioning or mild mental retardation range, and all of them had fewer behavior problems than I do and all are better with self-care skills, too. So, are they "low-functioning" because they happen to have a lower IQ, or are they "high-functioning" cause in most areas important in daily life, they function okay with some services.