So...Autism and Asperger's; What's the Difference?

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The title that was 'pose to be there was too long. Oh well. Sorry if it caused any confusions; I'm hoping that this is a somewhat mature conversation and I'm not looking to get my head bit off just because of my lack of understanding. So, please, don't hurt your friendly n00b.

So, I've wonder for awhile what's the difference between someone with high functioning autism and someone who has Asperger's. I spoken with others on this topic before, but never came away with much understanding as to what it is that makes a person a high functioning autistic or an aspie. Is it that people that have High Functioning autism somehow "lesser" or what differences do you guys see between the two? And in general, what's the difference between Autism and Asperger's? I know, that yes, these are all on the same spectrum, but yet, differences (and similarities) exist and I'm just not clear what they are.

Yeah, could you guys educate me to what you guys think are the differences between the two and the stereotypes that you think that others like place on them (and maybe the community/you might even place on them...errr...yeah.) So, yeah, help this gal out!

The great polemic is exactly if there is a difference.

I have no idea but I can parrot what I heard other people say, with no clue as to it's validity.

I heard that people with HFA were very obviously autistic as children but "grew out of it", sometimes to a degree that was not expected, whereas people with Aspergers usually weren't as obviously autistic as children as those with HFA were. It's as if they started off differently but ended up in similar 'places', if that makes sense.

But that could be rubbish, I don't know.

So, you're saying there might be any at all and it was rather strange person that decided that, "hey! let's come up two words for the same thing! One (autism) that's bound to freak parents out and the other (asperger's) which doesn't scare them as much." (This was my mother's experience; my sister was diagnosed with ADHD and lower functioning autism; and at the time, autism was looked at as..."scarier". She (my sister) is majoring in accounting, btw. Irony loves to kick the can.)

Oh, Maolcolm, completely missed your post! Whoops. Sorry about that! lol.

Well, I myself was diagnosed with Atypical High Functioning Autism at the age of three; and well, yeah, sure had to take special ed. but only to the 4th grade and even with that, I was always considered smart and a extremely creative child. But, at the same time, my sister (who is also HF) has...not had the same results or at least not to the same degree. So, maybe there is some point to what you said...

Though, from what I've heard about Asperger's, people with it have only have a problem socially and don't have much a problem educationally or a speech lisp. Though, this, of course, might not be from the best source ever either. xD

Lorna Wing, about AS and autism:

Oh. Maybe I just don't like to read big, boring scientific stuff. It's the same with computers for me...*shrugs*

Anyways, I do have another kinda related question; what exactly is stimming?

I suggest that you do a search about this using the search bar above, because this topic has been discussed a lot on this board, so I think there's a lot of information already out there for you.

From what I've picked up through said threads and through my own experience, it boils down to 2 main things:

1. People diagnosed with aspergers do not tend to have speech delay or impairment, while people with HFA do.
Typically, this applies to children.

2. People with aspergers hyper-focus on a topic/object/activity of interest, while people with HFA may or may not.

However, I've also recently been told by my son's developmental pediatrician that people move along the spectrum, and although he's HFA now (at 7), he could move into an asperger's level of speech in the future.

The differences are generally speech related... if you speak early, it is aspergers... speak later and it is autism. I do not know about all of the differences... from where I stand it is silly and subjective and situational. Perhaps it is because I am old and was diagnosed when I was old. These days the age I started speaking seems to have no practical application in my life.

I tend to tell people that I am autistic. When I tell people I have aspergers, they usually do not know what that means. I do not like to explain things to people who are not a part of my life so for the sake of simplicity, I tell people I am autistic. In my reality, the biggest difference is that people have heard if one and not the other.

The stereotype talk bothers me. I am aware that some people assume that if you are autistic you are somehow less able to communicate... if you have aspergers, you somehow communicate better or want to communicate more. This frustrates me personally because I am not a person who communicates well and I go mute sometimes and I do not frequently seek to form relationships and I often run from the ones that I have and retreat into myself. People have assumed that because I am not autistic, then I should be more 'high functioning' than I am. I might be able to string words together on a discussion board, but I'd bet twenty dollars that the dx'd auties on this site function better in their day to day life than I do, so the whole bit about functioning abilities annoys me to no end. My husband's cousin is diagnosed with autism and she has held a job for years, gets to and from work, goes to stores, can get on well with a large group of people... I cannot do these things. I have a hard time understanding the differences in the two, autism and aspergers, due to things like that...

Firstly, yayay! I'm not the only person posting new topics out there about this issue, I myself have wondered, as always thought I had Aspergers, when then my mum said it was actually HFA. And my brother has Aspergers, not HFA. So I'm confused too
When I posted about this, all my replies were pretty unhelpful and abrupt, but people nonetheless tried, I guess the right people weren't online, so I'll give this one a read, thanks for posting!! !!
Also searching in the white tool bar ( a suggestion given to me) comes up with some older forums, worth a read even if not entirely accurate.

I thought the difference was that people with Asperger's had above average intelligence, even genius level, whereas those with HFA had below to average-level intelligence.

hang on, I can answer this one!

Let's put in another way - if you have this symptoms, you have autism;

[qoute]"2. in individuals with adequate speech, marked impairment in the ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others"[/qoute]


This is the one that I wonder about. I don't recall seeing this in the DSM for Aspergers.
I'm not sure what they mean by "marked impairment".
People with Asperger's can also have this same issue?

If not in the criteria for Aspergers, would it then be PDD-NOS?