Poll: Is Aspergers the same thing as ASD/HFA?

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To be accurate, there is only a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder and three severity levels based on how much support is required. This does not actually specify whether you were/are verbal, have sensory issues, or any other trait. In some sense, I prefer that as we can describe individuals based on the degree of their disability without needed to stigmatize specific traits. It also allows us not to discriminate between follow autistics--AS and non-AS.

But I can understand the use/need of terms like Asperger's and high functioning. I have noticed the world is not a very kind place and anything to protect against its biases and prejudices is helpful. But I also notice the division within the autism community with these terms. Personally, I see a community of a shared condition or experience, even though it does not effect us equally.

But then again, I am autistic and I might be missing something...

I could get into all sorts of things trying to detail how I can't relate to people with HFA and they can't understand things about Aspergers but I'm hesitant to try because often I think people get stuck on people with Aspergers thinking they're superior to people with HFA.

I don't think that. I just think we're different, and I think that difference is significant enough that I feel alone a lot of times inside a community that should support me especially when it says I'm the same or at least a part of it.

There are biological differences that have been found between the social connectivity in the brains of NT's, Aspergers and HFA. This isn't the actual study but just an article on it.https://www.livescience.com/38630-autism-asperger-eeg-connectivity.html

There is more research out there, but less and harder to find especially since so many people don't think there's a reason to look for a difference.

Also the original diagnostic criteria for aspergers was never really followed by clinicians because they all knew it was bullsh*t. That said they had a sort of unspoken criteria because they knew there was a difference they just couldn't define it well.

The original study that gave way to Aspergers becoming a thing was done on a group of children who were exclusively boys. This means the behaviors observed were a lot more similar and less diverse.

The official diagnostic criteria differentiating between the two was never applicable or relevant and I don't think anyone truly educated as a professional ever thought it as so.

I saw quite a lot of internet traffic back in 2013 bemoaning this very issue. A lot of aspies did not want to be lumped with HFA not because of any clinical oversight but because of fear of stigma from NTs. So basically insecurity about being called "autistic" when they have been told by their clinicians and parents they were Aspergers all their life.

I'm well aware of this, and honestly, it is a valid point in two ways. One the fact that there is a valid reason to be concerned, but also raising the question of is this whole we're different just an identity crisis because of poorly defined labels.

However, I do not come from this background. I was not diagnosed or even aware of this world until long after the Aspergers diagnosis was omitted. I started looking more into it when I felt there was still something not quite right/the same about the people I was sharing a diagnosis with.

For me, it's like I finally got some answers to why my life has been so all over and I was excited to finally have people who understood and a better way to try to communicate with others what's going on inside me. Then I found out that I still didn't have that. It's not that my identity was ever stripped from me it's that it never got to exist in the first place. It's like everyone's denying my existence.

Thanks for the link. I wish they would cite the title of the study. The thing I noticed was there was only a sample of 26 people with AS, but 400 with autism. I wonder if there is selection bias in this.

Here is a link to the article by Tony Attwood: http://www.tonyattwood.com.au/books-by-tony-m/resource-papers/69-is-there-a-difference-between-aspergers-syndrome-and-high-functioning-autism

^ I also found that (the small sample size) noteworthy. I would want to read their methods section to make further determinations.

^^ Thank you for posting that paper Jiheisho. It covered a lot of information and (as always) I appreciate an article that cites all sources.

So there seems to be two sets of discussions here. "I don't want to be lumped with LFAs because I can function close to normal". Therefore if I am different then there must be a biological reason for why I am different to LFA's and HFAs.

On the biological side I have done fairly extensive literature reviews over the past decade and from what I understand the biological differences in brain structure between LFA, HFA and Aspergers was not consistently different enough to come to any firm conclusions. Secondly developmental changes mean't clinicians commonly observed children jump categories as they got older.
These two factors are the primary reason that the Asperger diagnosis was thrown out in 2013.

There is of course the obvious difference in language or verbal IQ between HFA and Aspergers. The current thinking is that infants in the HFA group have a much harder time inhibiting neural signals to the brain such as hypersensitivity to sensory input, which includes differences in processing visual and auditory information. In the autistic brain, the neurotransmitter, GABA, has difficulty filtering and regulating auditory and visual sensory signals. This interferes with their speech/language/comprehension. As a result there is a delay in language acquisition.

In contrast those in the Asperger category are better able to regulate incoming sensory input in early childhood so they are not delayed in language acquisition. The most research suggest that orbitofrontal functionality is compromised in HFA but is better integrated in AS children. As these children get older the HFA children do begin to integrate this function but from a developmental perspective there is classic neurological developmental delay so how much the children can catch up with their Aspie counterparts depends on factors like nueroplasticity and individual differences.

A couple of recent papers on biological markers for Aspergers

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5691167/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 113730.htm

These explanations do explain some aspects of my daughter's development as initially she showed very high abilities in talking, reading, writing, math and spelling but around 3-4 following an infection and 1 month dose of antibiotics she developed severe noise sensitivity (misophonia) and her verbal development stopped. In mainstream school her non-verbal abilities (music, math and sport) were above average but she was unable to demonstrate comprehension and have a conversation with her classmates. Once she began to control these sensitivities using various coping methods and medication her language acquisition immediately started improving. Despite the improvement we are playing catchup as her language and social skills are behind kids her age despite her non-verbal IQ being in the genius level.

I’m 59, and knew there was “something wrong with me” since the 60s.

I was diagnosed with autism at age 3, and with “brain damage” somewhat later. Was nonverbal till age 5.5. July, 1966 at Camp Harrelson, to be somewhat exact.

An Aspergian has less of the stimming and other classically autistic features—but has features like pedantic use of language, difficulty with subtle nuances, and an awkward yet willing desire to be social. A person who is not Aspergian, but HFA, has more classic autistic features and a natural reluctance to socialize which borders sometimes on repugnance.

Yes, I know this is anecdotal and not peer-reviewed. But this is my impression and experience.

Kraftie, what helped you to gain mastery of language/comprehension?

I believe a lot of luck had something to do with this.....plus some good therapy.

Somehow, neurologically, things “cleared up” for me. I also had my first crush on a girl at the same time.

https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/a ... 015-11-175

So magic huh!

There's strange things that happen to the prefrontal cortex when puberty hits

Interesting paper thanks....the AS cluster does still fall closer to the ASD cluster than the NT cluster and the authors recommend it be replicated to confirm the AS cluster as stand alone based on EEG readings.

Even if this was the case it supports current thinking that brain activity in orbitofrontal regions of the brain receiving sensory input are different in activity leading to obvious differences in activity in the speech centres of the brain.

This underlines the issue being one of filtering or processing input signals rather than wholesale difference in brain tissue,

Puberty didn’t happen until 8 years later