In the DSM-IV, would I have autism or Asperger's?

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I am pretty sure one of the requirements for a diagnosis of Asperger's is for the individual to have met normal speech milestones. I don't know if I did or not. It's not that I don't know if I talked back then, but maybe I'm just wondering if speech milestones are based on communication ability or simply ability to talk.

My mom has always responded to any questions about, "Did I say this or that as a kid?", with "You never talked." At first I thought she was probably just exaggerating and that I just was kind of withdrawn. But I asked her more about it and she continues to insist that I basically never talked, unless I was angry and trying to communicate something. In those instances, at least the ones I remember, I did have the ability to communicate at least to an extent, but other than that I didn't speak even in response to normal questions. She said one time I sat for over 5 minutes doing nothing on the playground, and kindergarten had already started. I was just sitting motionless on the slide. Both she and the teacher were trying to get me to go inside, and I did not make any eye contact and showed no sign of responding, or even that they existed and were talking to me. I continued in this position until at some point I just got up, walked past them and went inside, seemingly of my own accord and nothing to do with them. I can even remember times where they would ask me a question and I would answer it in my head, but I am pretty sure I didn't respond.

However, when I was angry (at a person), I would speak. I don't know if I was like this when I was 3, but I do have memories of being 7 and older where I was angry at another child who had mistreated me, and I communicated it well enough to be understood so that the bully got in trouble. Of course, that was when I was 7; I don't have many memories before then.

I also have another side question: why do I feel the need to have such drawn-out explanations? Anyone who has read some of my posts would probably notice that they tend to be pretty long. I usually have to make an effort to shorten them, as I know most people don't want to read that much. Nobody else on here seems to do this as much, at least I don't notice it much. Is this part of autism, over-explaining?

Autism is a collection of symptoms that affects people to different degrees individual symptom by symptom.

It is a fact that many people with an Aspergers diagnosis can fall way below the functioning level of many people with a classic Autism diagnosis.


A speech delay is only one symptom of many and I am convinced there is no difference between so called classic Autism and Aspergers.

Many kids got an early diagnosis because a speech delay gave their autism away but many other kids who did not have a speech delay slipped through the net and I did not get diagnosed until I was 38.

That is all people were looking for was the speech delay back in those uninformed days.


You had a speech delay I did not but my Autism might be worse then yours that is the crazy thing about this situation.

I have an Autism Spectrum Diagnosis the Aspergers vs Classic Autism debate is based on ignorance in my opinion.

You leaned to speak.


Professionals look for all the signs of Autism these days repetitive behavior lack of eye contact sensitivity issues and so on.

Some people that have the Aspergers diagnosis feel this is part of their identity and they get to keep that diagnosis.

If your getting an assessment these days get with the program all your traits and symptoms will be taken into account and you will get a detailed report.

I can guarantee you there will be people higher and lower functioning then you with the old Aspergers diagnosis which really makes that diagnosis meaningless for all current and future assessments.

Well, I had speech delays growing up. I learned to speak through speech therapy until the eighth grade. I was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder at age twelve after the long fight my parents put up with to get it. They knew I wasn't a normal child, and they weren't satisfied with my diagnosis of ADHD, so they kept pushing and pushing it. I was eventually diagnosed with a borderline autism, but I think over time it's gone worse due to the lack of services and such that I didn't get and could have benefited from if they weren't so costly. I think now, my autism is more mild to moderate compared to what I had growing up. I think my autism is considered more on a high functioning scale than it is AS.

That's probably true. I guess that's a good thing, because a diagnosis of Asperger's would imply that one was a higher-functioning individual. That would mean a low-functioning individual diagnosed with Asperger's would be less likely or able to get help.

I just asked my mom to explain more, and it seems more like I didn't meet the milestones until a little after 3 where I caught up. She said I could usually say what I wanted by then, but before that I was not able to speak much and that I would basically only say one made up word, "na", if I wanted my bottle, and that was basically it. As far as I know I didn't have a vocabulary until after 2, and my mom said I could speak pretty well after age 3, but according to her I just never did unless I needed to. So I guess that would mean I wasn't significantly delayed, not enough for a professional to notice anyway, and that would mean I would probably be considered as having Asperger's if I was diagnosed as a child.

But since a delay doesn't necessarily indicate an inability to function later on, it does make differentiating between the two pretty much meaningless like you said.

Your on my wavelength 100%

Get your Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis and then get on with you life.

Just ask my family and everybody I work with.

Yes not being able to keep things brief and to the point is an ASD trait that is one of the main reasons we can be so annoying.

That's good to know, at least I'm not the only one. I feel like I do keep things pretty brief with others in person, but then again that's probably because I don't know what to say if it is normal conversation. If I'm talking about something I've thought about quite a bit I can talk indefinitely, I think I probably repeat a lot but just explain it in a different way. My friend told me he can never get a word in, which I was not even aware of, to me it just seemed like he didn't have much to say so I continued to talk. In my mind I occasionally paused for him and also stopped if he started to interrupt, but he told me I might pause for a second at most and then continue rambling, and he said he usually has to interrupt over and over before I finally notice...

I have got to the age that I can start to see the funny side of some of these communication problems.

As annoying as it is to some, in the academic field it helps a ton. I can easily write very clear and thorough papers, where others seem to struggle adding anything more than the basics. I think here autism definitely helps me being a better writer

http://www.aspergers.com/aspcrit.html

DSM IV
D.There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g., single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years).

GILLBERG'S CRITERIA FOR ASPERGER'S DISORDER (SYNDROME)
4.Speech and language problems
(at least three of the following)
(a) delayed development

I went to speech therapist at ages 16 and 17 and still have a slight impairment so while I don't remember how my speech was in 1959 and 1960 I doubt it was good.

I had a speech delay until I was about 3 years old, and even after that, I didn't speak much until I was 4½. By the time I was given a formal assessment, at around 5½-6 years old, I was pretty much a stereotypical "aspie" with advanced linguistic skills for someone my age, and above-average intelligence. Because of this, I'm not really sure if I'd fall under Aspergers or classic autism under the old criteria. I'm glad they merged the two in the DSM V.