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One more question regarding AU/AS differences

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natesmom
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29 Jul 2008, 8:12 pm

Nevermind. too wordy!!



Last edited by natesmom on 29 Jul 2008, 9:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Danielismyname
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29 Jul 2008, 9:54 pm

I'll just quote the DSM-IV-TR which explains the differences between the two (stuff like strengths and weaknesses in certain areas of cognition are noteworthy, but they don't factor into the diagnosis too much):

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Asperger's Disorder must be distinguished from the other Pervasive Developmental Disorders, all of which are characterized by problems in social interaction. It differs from Autistic Disorder in several ways. In Autistic Disorder there are, by definition, significant abnormalities in the areas of social interaction, language, and play, whereas in Asperger's Disorder early cognitive and language skills are not delayed significantly. Furthermore, in Autistic Disorder, restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped interests and activities are often characterized by the presence of motor mannerisms, preoccupation with parts of objects, rituals, and marked distress in change, whereas in Asperger's Disorder these are primarily observed in the all-encompassing pursuit of a circumscribed interest involving a topic to which the individual devotes inordinate amounts of time amassing information and facts. Differentiation of the two conditions can be problematic in some cases. In Autistic Disorder, typical social interaction patterns are marked by self-isolation or markedly rigid social approaches, whereas in Asperger's Disorder there may appear to be motivation for approaching others even though this is then done in a highly eccentric, one-sided, verbose, and insensitive manner.



natesmom
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30 Jul 2008, 1:26 am

Thank you!!

My question was way more complicated than that involving the differences between MRI studies that compared the brain functioning between individuals who have HFA and AS (current research). I also mentioned using the block design subtest as a possible differentiation factor (as that has been studied). As typically people who are AU tend to make global errors and people who are AS tend to make local errors. It's just interesting how there are differences. Yes, NT's do the same thing - some attack make localized errors others make global. It's different for everyone. I think it is more pronounced for AS and HFA. AS have different errors than HFA. When you compare the subtest scores between the two, the subtest scores are similar - the process to get there is very different. That is a very simplistic way to describe what I wrote. I read that problems with patterns are related to left hemisphere dysfunction and problems with spatial configuration are related to right hemisphere ones. So, AS and HFA difference.

I am just curious because my son scores very superior on that one subtest but his errors were global when he made the errors. I wish we can get him an MRI.

My son is actually both when you read that description BUT I the actual neurological functioning would be interesting to know. I believe that if we knew, there are certain educational recommendations we can use to help him. If we don't know for sure, we could use the wrong method to help him.

My other post was twice as long and made more sense (I think) as it is very late.



anbuend
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30 Jul 2008, 9:26 am

natesmom wrote:
My question was way more complicated than that involving the differences between MRI studies that compared the brain functioning between individuals who have HFA and AS (current research). I also mentioned using the block design subtest as a possible differentiation factor (as that has been studied). As typically people who are AU tend to make global errors and people who are AS tend to make local errors.


That was not found in Cognitive mechanisms, specificity and neural underpinnings of visuospatial peaks in autism, at least. They tested autistic people with a block design peak, autistic people without a block design peak, non-autistic people, and gifted non-autistic people with a block design peak.

The summary says, "Neither autistic group displayed a deficit in construction of global representations," and that while global processing didn't interfere with the task in autistic people the way it did in non-autistic people, "In contrast, superior or typical performance of autistics in tasks requiring global processing is inconsistent with the global-deficit-driven Weak Central Coherence hypothesis and its neurobiological magnocellular deficit counterpart."

The whole article is available at that link. (Unless it's just that I might be logged in to a university's access thing at this point, in which case it's not all available there.)


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natesmom
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30 Jul 2008, 6:01 pm

Wow thanks. I read it in my neuropsych book. I will look into what you said. What I stated really didn't make sense to me that is why I mentioned it.


I will read the link!