Asperger's VS Autism

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So I have heard that the medical/psychology world has merged every autism related diagnosis into ASD, but I am still curious, for I got diagnosed with infantile autism before this occurred.
I recently decided to go back and look at all the reports on me from my childhood, and reflecting on this, I believe Asperger's fits me very well. I was described as having a well developed speech in the kindergarten, but I had a bunch of behavioral problems, like speaking to rather than with the other kids [sic], getting bored easily, not wanting to play physically active games, being obsessed with using the computer, and wanting to go home early (to use my own computer). Also mentioned was my wild imagination, but really, that's kind of expected from a child, so I can't really tell if it was anything but average.
I received a test in my school years that indicated a large discrepancy between verbal and performance skills, with the former being much higher. I didn't get diagnosed until I reached my teens, and by then, I had suffered greatly, as I probably developed social anxiety.
Should I perhaps visit a psychologist and get an update now that Asperger has lost its formal meaning?

I don't really think there's a difference between Asperger's and autism in how they present. You can call yourself either one.

I was also diagnosed with "infantile autism." This was known as Autistic Disorder in the DSM-IV. It is informally know as "classic autism."

Asperger's Syndrome is a form of autism. It is within the Autistic Spectrum.

It is theorized that people with Asperger's are relatively better in the verbal realm than the visual-spatial realm; whereas it is the reverse for people with "classic" autism.

IMO it seems like a re-classification would just amount to "distinction without difference". If it were to gain deeper insight into your strong/weak areas, I think that might have more value than a label. Though that information is probably better elucidated through other tests.

There's no real difference. Aspergers is just an obsolete label for a low-severity form of autism, that's it.

In a perfect world Aspergers or some other diagnostic label would describe a sub catagory of autism that replaced High Functioning Autism.

High Functioning Autism was never an official label but was and still is used to some degree by Autism proffessionals to describe Autistics with average to above average intellegence (IQ 70 or above)

Aspergers became an official diagnostic label in the early '90's that described Autistics with average to above average intelligence with "no clinically significant general delay in language (E.G. single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years)" in the DSM manual with a similar criteria in the ICD manual.

In the DSM V manual released in 2013 Aspergers was "subsumed" in the wider Autism Spectrum Disorders often more specifically ASD Level 1 severity without cognitive and language impairments. Aspergers remains an official diagnosis in the ICD manual but according to reports is bieng phased out in locations that use the ICD.

Dispite the claim above Aspergers is not close to bieng obsolete. Unlike manic depression it is still widely used by Autistics, professionals, and the media. But as a colloquial term it now basically describes Autistics with high to genius level intelligence and often "just" social difficulties or negative stereotypes such as "special snowflakes". What a f*****g shame.

Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 20 Sep 2016, 4:38 am, edited 8 times in total.

This.

I was formally diagnosed with Aspergers but I usually refer to myself as being autistic.

The difference:

Classic Autism - delayed language development, bellow average cognitive development.
High functioning autism - delayed language development, average or above average cognitive development.
Asperger - normal or early language development(making short sentences under 3 years old), average or above average cognitive development.

(cognitive development = self help skills and learning abilities, it could mean high IQ but some savants test as very high IQ but can't even tie their shoes so it isn't always IQ related)

Other traits are the same. At least between HFA and AS (because low cognitive development means problems are more severe due to lack of problem solving ability).
Problems with social interaction, strong, restricted interests etc. AS criteria don't have sensory issues as far as remember but it's a common comorbid.

Some people say people with autism(including HFA) have better visual-spacial skills and people with Asperger better verbal skills but I personally am pretty good with both and I was diagnosed with AS.
My language development(vocabulary and grammar) was faster than norm (5 word, grammatical correct sentences at age 2), and I have above average intelligence.

I am the classic Aspergian in lots of ways.

But I had a severe speech delayed and behaved like a classic autistic person until I acquired speech at age 5 1/2.

Under the DSM-IV, I would not have been diagnosed with Asperger's. More likely, I would have been diagnosed with PDD-NOS, or even Autistic Disorder.