Autism vs. Asperger's

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I think I prefer autism spectrum, actually.

Last edited by Jediscraps on 19 Jan 2011, 10:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

( ooh, im being referenced on wp, im famous )

not quite. the criteria for both are overlapping in two basic categories (social interaction and patterns of behavior/interests/activities), but each has its own criteria different from the other as well. in addition to that, AS requires certain things NOT be present, while AD does not require those same things be present or absent. for example, AS requires no delay in self help skills, AD does not require a delay or lack of delay in self help skills. so if you had no delay in self help skills, that does not automatically make you AS since those with AD may not have a delay, but if you DO have the delay in self help skills, that should automatically make you NOT AS.

im going to try to put a spreadsheet here that i made up that lays out the criteria side by side. you will see that two of the three main categories are shared between both AS and AD, those are color coded to make the correlation easier to see. then below that is the differing criteria.

also note that for AD, it requires 6 of the basic category criteria be met, 2 from #1, and 1 each from #2 and #3 (that makes 4, so it needs an additional 2 from any of the three categories). that differs from AS which requires only 2 from #1 and 1 from #3, but no additional and of course no communication since that category isnt part of AS diagnosis.

and for my own opinion, i think they are related conditions, but not necessarily exactly the same. i think we will find out eventually that there are multiple causes of autism. i also think a HUGE number of people are misdiagnosed one way or the other, simply because diagnosticians dont follow the diagnostic criteria. even here on the forums with people diagnosed with AS or AD, they dont even know the differences between the diagnoses or believe in misinformation, such as thinking those with AD have to have a speech delay or cognitive impairment, or that those with AS have to have an above average intelligence.

ok, cant figure out a way to embed the table, but heres a link to it:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid= ... y=CMOvyPsB

I know all that, but even high-functioning autistic people had speech delays to begin with. Like me, for an example. While aspies definitely don't.

HFA and AS adults have similar life outcomes, per what I've read. Also I think speech delays are not required for an autism diagnosis, but that's how it's practically worked out. So autistic people have speech delays are diagnosed as autistic, while autistic people who do not have speech delays are diagnosed as having Asperger's, even though they may otherwise fit the criteria, even though you're supposed to rule out autism before you diagnose Asperger's. So the outcome is that the differential is "late speech" and the perception is that Asperger's Syndrome is by definition milder than autism, when this is not the case.

What is the practical distinction between not speaking and speaking but not understanding what you are saying, as far as childhood goes?

that is not completely true, and sometimes depends on what kind of speech delay you are talking about.

you do NOT have to have a speech delay to be diagnosed Autistic Disorder (AD). it may be really common, but it is not required. you CAN be an aspie and have had a speech delay, as long as it was not what they consider to be "significant". which means, if you could say single words by 2 yrs old, and phrases by 3 yrs old, then that is not "significant delay". but most people consider only phrases by 3 to be delayed, and certainly there is nothing in the criteria about how often the child speaks or anything to differentiate a child who can speak but chooses not to, and a child who simply cant speak beyond phrases.

my youngest is diagnosed AD. he was originally diagnosed AS because of a diagnostician who failed to look at all criteria and looked mainly at his speech. he did not have a "significant delay" because he had single words by 2 and phrases by 3, even tho he chose not to use them. he had the ability for language, but chose not to speak most of the time. he does however have all of the 3 other criteria in the communication category for AD.

there must be some autistics out there who are AD and had no speech delay at all. now that would be a good poll to see =)

I would put it this way: All aspies are autistics, but not all autistics are aspies.

Thanks for the clarification, although you accidentally made it look like I said that.

I did. Still needed to be dressed by the time I started school. Always felt about 5 years behind my peers. Took longer to be toilet trained but I got that down. Even struggled with making food and cleaning my room. Still do.
I never told this to my psychiatrist though.

My answer to your question:

Yes, yes, yes, YES! It has been established over and over again. It is a non-issue! This issue ceases to be! It is an ex-issue! The constant bickering about whether aspergers and autism are the same thing is getting really repetitive and really tiresome. The scientific community has already come to their conclusion (which is why they are changing the criteria). Also, every piece of literature that I've read on the subject and every psychologist and therapist that I have ever known calls aspergers an autism spectrum disorder. I wonder why? Maybe it's a type of cake *sarcasm*.

Now, nobody is saying that severely autistic people are the same as high functioning autistics. but then again, nobody is saying that those with major depression are the same as those with dysthimia.

Sorry for the bitter tone. I just get sick of this argument.

This