Severe PDD.

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I took the PDD assessment test ( http://www.childbrain.com/pddassess.html ) and I got "171 severe PDD". I read all the instructions and I answered truthfully and correctly.

I am diagnosed with AS. Does this "severe PDD" mean severe AS for me or classic autism? I'm somewhat confused.

Please don't tell me I'm being stupid.

I wish you luck in your Pharmacology studies.

Is it easy to navigate University College, in terms of getting guidance, etc?

SteelMaiden - the "Severe PDD" rating doesn't seem to distinguish, so I doubt the score is relevant to the specific diagnosis you have so much as it's relevant to you being on the spectrum.

From things you've posted, you seem to have severe difficulties. You're definitely not mild.

Just goes to show that an Asperger's diagnosis doesn't mean you only have "a touch of autism" or some such. That's trivializing it; AS is autism, and that's that. Even when a person can talk some of the time (which is about as much as you can count on with an AS diagnosis), they can still have a pretty big dose of autism.

The assumption that Asperger's is mild doesn't hold true for me, either; nor does it, I suspect, for most Aspies. I just call it "autism spectrum disorder" and leave it at that. Besides, I've got as much in common with "autistic" people as I do with "Aspies"; or, to put it more succinctly, they have practically everything in common with each other. The "Asperger's" versus "Classic autism" distinction is no more than a doctor's subjective perspective based on superficial appearances, anyway.

I think that just means the test strongly suggests that you may be significantly affected by an autistic condition. In other words it corroborate your Aspergers diagnosis. That's all.

Those tests can only give clues and suggestions, not a diagnosis in themselves, and they are certainly not precise enough to discriminate between different autistic conditions (for which the terminology is constantly changing and being debated by specialists).

Thanks everyone for clarifying.

I find it very hard to navigate university on my own without a support worker and I have frequent meltdowns at uni.

I cannot use public transport easily (I've started screaming on buses before).

Right now I have lost speech and I'm communicating using my phone. Can anyone recommend any Android phone apps for text to speech?

I don't know about the Android apps, sorry; you might want to start a new topic about that, so that people who have experience with it will see the topic and know it's something they can answer.

Yeah, I hate public transport too. I can do the bus thing, kind of, if there's no transfers. It does take a lot out of me; pretty much all the energy I've got for the day has to go to surviving the bus ride. And if it's noisy... yeah, I'll shut down. Or thump my head against the window. Or just curl into a ball. Whatever. This is why I like walking so much more than buses.

BTW, how did you get a support worker for uni? I'm trying to get one, because I'm really having trouble negotiating all the crazy of living on my own, but they seem to only be available for people who are intellectually disabled. There's not much available for someone who can explain to you how a light bulb works but can't get organized enough to change one when it needs doing. (Seriously, the bulb in my hallway still needs to be changed...)

My favorite android app that is free and the sort where you click the square and it says what you've told it to say for that square is helptalk. It's what I use when I go nonverbal, because I can preprogram most frequently said things into it, and then I can go into its "i type what I want to" if I need longer.

I also keep Type And Speak around, for long things to type and have it say, but if I use that is much less frequent.

(When I score myself on that I don't get mild either, and I was diagnosed with Asperger's too)

Thanks both.

I got a support worker through a charity that the government parts for the fees - National Autistic Society.

Thanks for the app suggestion.