What is the difference between AS and HFA?

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http://ezinearticles.com/?Are-Aspergers ... id=1229039
Apparently from this website they seem to class this as the same thing... Its just an unofficial term for it. But the difference is that the development of speech....

Fortunelately I think I might have HFA.... Because I didn't start talking until I was like 3 and a half.... I can't just suddenly have aspergers just like that.... while people with aspergers don't have any troubles with speech but have troubles in social situations... The way I think also completely changed since when I reached secondary school... started to act more like my aspie friend who for some reason seems to be acting funny lately... since he went to college.

A question that's applicable [as it's used as an example of someone with HFA]; are you like Rain Man from the movie? In addition to the aloof social behaviour (though he's pushing it IMO, as he accepts approaches from people), he also has a really rigid and routine orientated life, much so that he can't function without routine. No eye contact at all, the monotone voice, totally oblivious to most social situations, and isn't independent (he needs care in the form of living arrangements; a lot of people with AS end up living by themselves, whereas the majority of those with HFA don't).... He also has frequent motor mannerisms.

If yes, you're more HFA.

Some people start off like this when young, but improve so that they're like people with AS as adults, which is having that all-absorbing narrow interest that takes up a lot of your time, and poor social reciprocation. There's also the lack of appreciation of and displaying nonverbal cues of HFA, but they might not be as bad (i.e., some eye contact and a less monotonous voice). The need for routine usually isn't there to the extent as seen above (i.e., can't function without a plan going exactly how it's organized), or it might not be there at all.

IIRC, you went to a school for people with ASDs; I'm sure you've observed many people with AS, HFA, LFA and other types of autism. In that documentary, "Make Me Normal", from your school, the boy whose mother died is a good example of someone with AS (see when he talks to the actor who plays C3P0 in Star Wars? That's the social behaviour that's most common to people with AS. Talking in a one-sided way).

So, basically, what you look like to other people determines whether you're labeled AS or HFA.

...I already said that.

Its a very interesting subject, and for what its worth my knowledge of the difference is severely limited so can only base my opinion on my past experiences.

However for me, i feel that the only Complete difference between HFA and AS is the speech impairment and other cognitive delays that a young child may possess.

Personally I was diagnosed with HFA and my brother has AS. I also know one other person fairly well who says he has HFA/AS (by stating at different times that he has both or one of the other, it suggests he has been diagnosed with AS as opposed to HFA but I am not certain as I havent asked him specifically - mainly because he like almost everybody else I know, dont actually realise I have AS/HFA).

Anyway I like analysing the behaviours of myself, my brother and my friend with HFA or AS. I have noticed that between the 3 of us, that even though 2 of us have been diagnosed with "different" conditions, we all share similar sets of difficulties but each to different varying degrees.

For instance when it comes to any sort of organisation, by reading some posts on wrong planet it suggests those with HFA are far less organised to those with AS. However, i would say that I am very organised (albeit extremely untidy!) while my AS brother is less organised.

Also when it comes to talking "at people" about their special interests. My HFA/AS friend does this quite a bit, however me and my brother dont (on the other hand my special interest is VERY socially acceptable so maybe its a lot easier for me to speak to people about it).

These are only two of many examples that I've found show how I feel HFA isn't seperate from AS. Instead even though there are going to be tendencies where someone with AS will be different to one with HFA especially when it comes to speech it isn't "complete". From my experience I feel external/social factors would play their part just as much though. This could include accessability to good, caring professionals at schools, psychologists, parents etc. So maybe instead it might highlight there is a difference in help for some people with AS compared to HFA (and vice versa) for certain things like helping with communication, stress etc??

But like I said before Im not really sure, but i dont think its down to inherently big differences between someone suffering from HFA and one with AS.

Im not sure if i explained my point well, but i hope you get at least a bit of an undertstanding of where im coming from

ps sorry for the length of the post

I don't know, I was diagnosed with HFA when I was 20 cause I had a slight verbal delay (I don't even know if it was a verbal delay but I've been told I'm MFA-HFA) instead of AS, though I think I could easily be AS as well.. it really depends. My speech isn't odd, but my word usage isn't always the best, and i tend to make up words/use them incorrectly and have a lot of mimicking like things.

however, I have been told that my social skills are a piece of crap and that I have a bit of a harder time socializing than those with AS though once again I'm sure that's subjective since every person is different.. I've just been told it appears I struggle more. *shrug*

That sounds more like a HFA thing again like i would of done... Which i've really improved on but i sometimes mumble or speak too fast for the person to understand. I don't seem to understand why i was labelled AS and so did my girlfriend and this is recently that i found out about this.

i was under the impression a lot of people that were dxed HFA are given AS later in life.

anyway, it does not matter especially with the DSM changes.

AS = HFA w/o a speech delay.

Out of all thye friends I have with AS, I have one with HFA, let me share some facts about him with you, (He's 15);

- He watches all kinds of Jetix cartoons

- He talks like a 9-year old

- He constantly stares like a 6-7 year old

- He hangs around children

-He laughs rythmically, like saying "Ha-ha" every 1st second

- He is so F******* DEPRESSIVE!

I really feel like ending my friendship with him soon, and reveal too him that I'm not the person he thinks I am.

I may have overreacted a little in the previous post, but how am I supposed to be friends with a person who is DEPRESSED 4 LIFE?!

AS and HFA are the same condition, the only reason they're separate is due to the time they were reached, and different people doing the research.

http://www.sacramentoasis.com/docs/8-22-03/as_&_hfa.pdf <-this is a scientific paper showing that they are the same, while quoting studies, sources, etc.

Also, as to the speech delay thing, I started talking late but I was still diagnosed with Asperger's... Seems the doctors don't follow the diagnosis papers properly anyway. Probably why HFA and AS are being merged - and it's about time!

He's actually saying they're a part of the same continuum, i.e., LFA and HFA are the same disorder, just as AS and HFA are. Professor Attwood is quoted in saying AS is "milder" HFA, with HFA being "milder" LFA. "More alike than unlike" being the key in his conclusion.

There's plenty of documents/studies marking the differences between HFA and AS when people are put into the traditional boxes, it's just whether keeping them separate is worth anything, and most people don't seem to think so anymore.

The question, what's the difference between LFA and AS? Is just as valid (and it ain't a simple IQ score, as people with AS can have an IQ of 50 to 75).

Not sure of the difference if any. I was diagnosed as HFA when a child and AS when an adult.

Well the conclusion clearly states:
Having reviewed the literature, we may be able to answer the question, is there a difference between Asperger's syndrome and High Functioning Autism? The reply is that the research and clinical experience would suggest that there is no clear evidence that they are different disorders. Their similarities are greater than their differences. We appear to be taking, particularly in Europe and Australia, a dimensional view of autism and Asperger' syndrome rather than a categorical approach. (Leekam, Libby, Wing Gould and Gillberg 2000). At present both terms can be used interchangeably in clinical practice.

in my mind is it simple to see. (it does not make my observation correct, it is just what i find easiest to process).

i was diagnosed as simple "autistic" when a was a few months old because i showed no reciprocation. i did not react to smiles or vocal inflections. i was flaccid in my body. many people who tried to hold me as a baby dropped me. i fell through their arms because i did not brace myself to be held. i can not "dance" with others, and it is like a dance when babies adapt and flex certain muscles so they do not fall through peoples arms.

because i was simple autistic, i was put in a class in kindergarten that contained people with very low expectations of achievement. i achieved easily all the expectations of that class, and i was moved up to a c grade kindergarten class (from special learning) and i also was able to complete the academic requirements of that class early, so i was then put up to an "A" class for year 1.

after a short while, they saw that i was teased a lot by other kids, and i was clearly not fitting in, so they again relegated me to the special learning class, but they gave me advanced work to do. i managed to stay at that primary school (elementary school) until 6th grade (the final grade). i was in a special learning class, but it was because of my severe behavioral oddities that i was there. normal kids laughed very hard at everything i did, and teachers thought i was very distracting to them so that was a big reason i was reinstated to the special learning class.

when i then went to high school, it was on for young and old.
i was 11 when i entered year 7. i had (and still have ) "ODD" which is "oppositional defiant disorder".
this caused very many problems. i saw no problem in my automatic resistance to anything i did not approve of.
i did not last long in year mainstream 7.
i was hospitalized in year 7 at a place called rivendell adolescent unit and it was the best place i ever lived (except for where i live now).

at rivendell, my psychiatrist spoke to me in depth for about 3 hours per day. (1.5 hours in the morning and 1.5 hours in the afternoon).

she liked me very much i could tell. she taught me very many things that could never have been taught to me by anyone else.

she said i was H.F.A, but she was studying a new condition called asperger syndrome and she was sure that it was applicable to me, but it was not then a valid diagnosis.


so i was a "simple autistic" until i was 11 when i was refined to H.F.A and i was 12 when i heard my doctor say she was thinking i am AS but could not diagnose me until the diagnosis was available.

well i think there are two coefficients that are at work in the severity of autism. one is the degree of pure autism which is the same as "selfism" that is the degree with which you are inhabiting solely your self, and the other is the degree of intelligence you have that can let you see possible exit routes from submersion in non understanding.

i personally excur far and wide into areas of consideration that i have never read or even sought the ideas of others about.
i was "H.F.A" until 1994 when i was diagnosed "A.S" after 8 weeks of 2 interviews per week and consultations with my "family"

anyway , your question is "how is HFA different from AS".


it seems simple for me to see a continuum of autism. profoundly autistic people are very helpless as they never saw the outside world. therefore they never learned anything about it, they must be fed and toileted and stewarded every step of the way through their life.

there is LFA where they can understand simple rules (table setting etc) but they can never live on their own, they could not cope at all by themselves without a steward.

and MFA are people i was told that can gain much knowledge on narrow rails of interest.
they can function in a reasonably efficient way after they have been taught a routine that engenders the process they are required to perform. but they are also not able to care for themselves and live alone without a trustworthy person being in their company all the time.

HFA people can live on their own and are capable of reasoning reality without external coaching. they generally live a constant life that never changes,
i am like HFA very much although i am diagnosed as AS.

autism is like being a fish that swims comfortably at different depths than most.

the deepest swimmers can see no sign of the surface of the water, let alone what is above that.
the shallowest swimmers (in the world of autism) are asperger people who can see through a few inches of water what seems to be happening above the surface.

non autistic people are all sitting in the seats high and dry above the depths from which occasionally a lucky AS person may breach the surface into normal reality. inevitably however, the "breach" is over and the autistic joy of simple participation is gone within seconds. oh well. i like to make my own entertainment without any influence from any person.

i can make 2 good songs for every painful verbal sentence i try to say here. maybe i should desist for a few days in talking aimlessly.

This makes perfect sense to me, and is a good metaphor. (Except for the fact that autistic people are forbidden to use metaphors, but we'll let it slide.)

Personally, I've got my face right at the surface of the water. I can look down and see the fish and coral, and that's nice. Or I can look up and see the blue sky and clouds, and see the beach people in the distance, but sometimes the sun is too bright or I have to wipe the water out of my eyes first. Periodically a wave comes along and splashes straight down the back of my nose.

Also, the swimmers metaphor acknowledges that the most LF autistic people, the deepest swimmers, are still having their own experiences which are no less valuable than those of the shallow swimmers. I like that because there is no judgment in it.



It might have been painful to write, but it was enjoyable to read, imo.