The differences between Asperger Syndrome and Dyslexia

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Hello, 3 months ago I was officially diagnosed with ADD and dyslexia and my teachers unofficially diagnosed me with OCD. However, after extensive research and careful consideration of my personality and history, I believe that I may have Asperger Syndrome. Are there any objective areas where someone with Asperger syndrome might differentiate themselves from someone with dyslexia; specifically on the Wechsler Scale in areas such as perceptual reasoning, working memory and processing speeed? This is purely from an objective standpoint, I understand the subjective side of the equation and believe that my personality, development and past may resemble this. Thank you, I appreciate you help.

At the very core, there is very little overlap between the two conditions, but I'm sure you know that anyway if you've been reading about them. Both conditions manifest themselves in very different ways from person to person.

Individuals with ASDs tend to score highly on working memory, though by no means universally, and particularly perceptional organisation. Whilst I can't find any studies, I am guessing dyslexics are at a similar level to neurotypicals on perceptional organisation, whereas aspies seem to outscore them in a significant way.

well both aspergers syndrome and dyslexia come under what is known as a "specific learning disability" I learnt about Aspergers originally by looking up dyslexia with coordination issues, also remembered my 2 friends said they had it at the time. I started studying aspergers n then when i talked to my friends about what i had learned i learned that they both saw me as an aspie.

many aspects of other disorders do croos over into Aspergers such as the OCD aspect, aspies are known for obsessiveness.
cause i used to believe i was dyslexic now im just happily accepting im an aspie, though it is possible to be both. Aspergers is just the brain map other conditions can also associate with aspergers from what i have learned in the year i have been obsessively studying aspergers online and with my friends talking about it. =)

hope this helps somewhat.

Dyslexia simply means you get symbol order mixed up on a page which renders you unable to read.

Aspergers is a whole mental condition- a watered down form of autism that has many symptons, none of which is dyslexia.

In fact aspies seemed to be more likely to be hyperlexic than dyslexic. Though Im sure there must be a few aspies who happened to be also dyslexic.


So the two conditions are peaches and pears- not even comparable things.

Its like comparing ADD to lefthandedness.

I took a careful look at my diagnosis and nowhere did it actually diagnose me with any disability but rather an "uneven ability", the dyslexia was merely implied. All things considered, it is very easy to see how you could score poorly on the reading section if you failed to understand author's tone and figurative language (I scored 0 on the PSAT in both) and I imagine I had a similar fate on this test. I also don't understand how you can suggest dyslexia when I had a superior score in sequencing. I have a family history of Autism, and believe that because Asperger syndrome is not as severe as other forms of Autism, it is entirely possible that it went unoticed. Of course, this is probably trivial because it is truly the subjective side that matters.

i thought aspergers people were hyperlexic

I have both.

It doesn't. I've been tested and was tested for reading, spelling, IQ, logic (written and spoken) and memory.

They are related and often come along together, but they are not the same thing and having Aspergers does not mean you'll inevitably have dyslexia. I'm pretty certain my husband has dyslexia. He used to go to remedial classes at school and he often gets words totally wrong. He usually gets me to proofread anything he writes and there are errors all over the place. But, although he's probably BAP, he doesn't have Aspergers. I, on the other hand, am without a doubt BAP and definitely further down the spectrum than him. I definitely don't have dyslexia, more likely hyperlexia, as I taught myself to read at 3 and still have an obsession with numbers and letters.

Last edited by Mummy_of_Peanut on 01 Jun 2012, 4:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

So...?

What is "BAP" ( besides 'Black American Princess')?

Broader Autistic Phenotype. People who have autistic traits but aren't disabled by them.

Agreed.

Some of us (like myself) have traits of both dyslexia and hyperlexia, but technically fit into neither category.

On one hand, my reading ability was at a very high standard from a very young age and I am unusually fast at reading. I absorb the information quickly and well without getting it mixed up and have great recall.

However, my spelling, grammar, etc is usually crap (I would fail epically without spellcheck). Often when I type or write, I mix up my word order, or my sentences are functional but irregular. I can't spell very well, and in particular I often mix up the letters "r" and "f" at the beginning of words (among many other examples). I also have difficultly finding the words I need in general to express something accurately.

I assume it is neurological in nature and somehow related to my ASD, because no matter how much I have studied and which language it is in, I still have the same problem.