Hypothesis: Asperger's VS HFA

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The ones that may differentiate me from 'classic' AS:
- Average long-term memory for facts (lexical information like names, technical data, poems, proverbs, etc.). Difficulties with recall, it might take too long to remember and so I may appear dumber than actually I am.
- Problems with speech: stutter, bad articulation, speed (sometimes too fast), sometimes monotonous (not pedantic at all).
- Perceptual Reasoning Index > Verbal Comprehension Index (by 16 points).
- Disorganized, often out of focus (attention-deficit).
- It's equally difficult to me to take in visual and verbal information (slow processing speed).

The ones that may differentiate me from classic autism:
- Limited visual skills: I can easily lose orientation. Higher complexity, 3D objects are too much to me.
- Spoke at the age of 1.5 (according to my parents).
- Generally less severe symptoms (e.g. pretend play, focusing only on details, being aloof).
- Rocking never was my favorite stim.
- Clumsiness (only moderate, the worst of them are ball-games). I also like to take things apart and repair them, I'm not very good at it, but not bad either.

My Executive Dysfunction might be bad enough to put me in the classical autism level .

But at age 56 what speech or lack of I had before age 3 has no meaning for me. The Asperger/HFA designation is based on the difference in patients that Kanner and Asperger studied. That is all. People who are Aspergers or HFA are Autism at probably Level 1 (maybe higher part of Level 2?) difficulties functioning in a neuromajority world. I look at what Hans Asperger and Lorna Wing were trying to accomplish. In Aspergers case keep a whole bunch of Autistics alive in Nazi Germany by showing they had usefulness for society. In Wing’s case getting Autistics recognized and diagnosed. They had me and people with a lot of similarities to me in mind.

I believe in the future at best people will be wondering why the Autism community went along with destroying a psychological treatment method that was so helpful for people at worst they will be wondering why the Autistic community went along with an idea that put Autism back in the 1970's when because of lack of knowledge many people not "classical" were un and misdiagnosed an era I remember well. I am not just being paranoid. The person who diagnosed me attended discussions where the change was discussed. It was about insurance

Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 31 Mar 2014, 12:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.

When you read the new DSM descriptions, it is also clearly about disempowering. The emphasis on "needing support" appears greater than it is for any other diagnosis. IMO the goal is to make the diagnosis seem more negative and discourage anyone from accepting it for themselves or their loved one. And yes, I agree, that is about money.

Just really ugly to save money by disempowering a group with so little for trying to gain self respect.

LOL.....going off topic from the topic which was off the original topic, though DSM V should be discussed as well.

If one were able to combine the positive qualities of Autism and Asperger's in one person, that person would be quite special, indeed. Having both verbal and physical intelligence! An engineer and a poet!

LOL.....going off topic from the topic which was off the original topic, though DSM V should be discussed as well.

If one were able to combine the positive qualities of Autism and Asperger's in one person, that person would be quite special, indeed. Having both verbal and physical intelligence! An engineer and a poet!

The OP is just saying that if you're mechanically inclined you're autistic,and if you're verbally inclined you're aspie. And he makes the assumption that if you learn visually then you're always mechanically inclined but cant speak worth a darn. Im very visual in thinking, but also very verbal, and not mechanically inclined at all.

So I think its his idea is just doesnt work.

This happens to me, sometimes. On the WAIS information test, one of the questions was who wrote Alice in Wonderland. I KNEW I knew it. But I could not recall the information. I told the Psychologist that I would remember it, probably on my drive home. Then, on the drive home, I remembered the name (Lewis Carroll).



I had a slight stutter problem in high school. Even my so-called friends teased me about it (they referred to me as “R-r-r-r-rocket”). The problem became less pronounced after that (not certain why).



For me, the Perceptual Reasoning Index > Verbal Comprehension Index (by 9 points).

I scored in the 90+ percentile on three of the WAIS sub-test scores: Arithmetic (99%), Matrix Reasoning (98%), Visual Puzzles (91%). An all other sub-tests, I scored in the mid 70s to mid 80s (percentile wise).



I am good at focusing, when it is quiet. My wife says I am disorganized (e.g. I misplace my keys or my phone often). But, I have some fairly intricate filing systems (for papers, information, etc.). I know where everything is and can find anything within 10 seconds.



I know I am slow with verbal information. If I don’t write it down, I forget things quickly.



I have really good hand-eye coordination. I used to love the “coin snatching”. When I was young, my record was 40 pennies stacked in two columns. Yet, I am terrible at ball-games. I have trouble judging speed, distance, etc. I also have problems judging speed/distance with driving (when I was young, I hit stationary objects on both sides of the car). I used to love taking things apart when I was young. In fact, I have a hard time understanding things, unless I see how each individual part works within the system.

The OP is not saying that. He was just proposing a hypothesis which would serve as a general framework. Obviously there are Aspies who transcend the stereotype, same with people with HFA. Hypotheses do not necessarily turn into laws; they are merely a proposal, a bill to be debated.

If one would read further down the thread, one would notice that the OP changed his mind somewhat on the veracity of the hypothesis, based upon the input presented within the thread. Somewhat like Socrates did with Plato and his other students.

Let's continue the Socratic discussion, shall we?

It's been very illuminating so far.

I'm a highly verbal person with crap motor skills and visualization.

While your theory may fit me, I doubt it would fit everyone.

Mostly, I've observed autistic people have weird brains, but thanks for introducing the topic for discussion.

LOL...I wish I could take credit for this theory.