Whats the difference between Autism and AS?

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forreal

foreskin

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My understanding of the differences:

1. language delay : autism has language delay, AS has no language delay.

2. IQ: people with AS must have average or above average IQ, while people with autism can have any IQ. Autistic people with average or above average IQ may be described as having "high functioning autism" (HFA).

So the only difference between AS and HFA is language delay. This often sorts itself out by a certain age (I think about 10 years old), so for teenagers and adults on the spectrum, there is no observable difference between AS and HFA.

There is a spectrum between LFA and HFA/AS ... and it is impossible to draw a strict dividing line. People with AS - while having no language delay - may have language peculiarities.

Actually, it's possible to be diagnosed with autism without a language delay, by the DSM-IV criteria (thought not really likely by common practice).

There's no difference. AS and HFA are one in the same. You can make up differences between the two (such as speech delay, IQ, etc) but it's all about semantics, really. At the end of the day, AS, PDD-NOS and Autism are being put into a single diagnostic category anyway. If we are comparing AS with a classical autism, the only difference is severity, really. I hope that answers your question.

The difference between AS and HFA is language delay, however that distinction doesn't always seem to be clear and could be considered a bit arbitrary. There are some people who have been diagnosed with AS but might have been diagnosed with HFA by different professional and visa versa. That's why they're removing the AS as separate diagnosis from autism in the DSM V.

Autism = Language delay
AS = No language delay.

That's the only diff.

Yeah, check that third criterion. That's a statement of what takes precedence over what else when you qualify to be diagnosed with both things. So, III says that if you can also be diagnosed with either Rett's or CDD, you get that diagnosis instead of the Autistic Disorder one. Asperger's has a similar criterion that says that if you meet criteria for Autistic Disorder, then you can't be diagnosed with Asperger's too.

The order of precedence is:
Rett's
CDD
Autistic Disorder
Asperger's Disorder
PDD-NOS

So the first one on the top of that list that you qualify for is the diagnosis you get. Which means that plenty (probably most) of Asperger's cases are actually misdiagnosed Autistic Disorder cases--if you fit criteria for both, or if you ever had a speech delay, or if you ever had developmental delay or adpative skills problems, you aren't supposed to be diagnosed Asperger's at all. Like most people diagnosed with Asperger's, I fit into that category--as a child, I should have been diagnosed with Autistic Disorder. Around the age of nine, when I lost the last of the Category B criteria (in my case, that would have been learning to conduct a back-and-forth conversation), I should have been re-diagnosed as PDD-NOS because, despite fitting Asperger's criteria very well, I still had adaptive skills delays that disqualify me from being diagnosed with Asperger's.

But my official diagnosis is Asperger's, not PDD-NOS, and since it gets me what I need, I'm content.

They're both the same it all depends on the level of functioning and how bad it is otherwise there is no real difference. Autism is autism.

I was diangoesed with autism. I do not think I am very difernt from people diagnosed with asperger. I have been on this site. I have been rading it. I have been joinig in. I think the difference is dificulat to decide.

I had the oposite of a language delay. I learned both english and spanish at the same time.