Should I consider myself Asperger or classic autistic?

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From what my parents told me, I started displaying behaviors such as not responding to my name, very restrictive diet, echolalias, etc. around the age of 2.5-3.

However, my social and other development was perfectly normal before that. Is it possible to "get" Asperger's at a later age? My psychiatrist said that according to DSM-V he diagnoses me with autistic disorder, but that under DSM-IV and ICD-10 I would be classified as having Asperger's. I pointed out the fact that I have expressive communicative problems, severe autonomy problem, and had speech delay. He said that he's a clinician, and that he "isn't ICD or DSM", and that he thinks that I have Asperger's because I'm "very intelligent" (as if there aren't intelligent people with classic autism).

So, is it possible to get Asperger's at a later age? Or is it more typical of classic autism?

By the way, by expressive language problems I mean that I have repetitive question asking, severe perseveration and echolalias. Also, I often loose skills under stress, and can't go non-verbal. Is it all seen in Asperger's? Not to mention, some of my cognitive skills are in the borderline ret*d range, while others broke the test's ceilings.

However, my psychiatrist isn't sure of his diagnosis, so he's sending me to an autism research center. He said that they will be able to give me a precise diagnosis there.

Should I consider myself classic autistic or Asperger?

I am a classic autist, though many people said to me that they thought I had Aspergers. They decided it was classic autism because signs were present from very early childhood, while Aspergers wouldn't be noticed until further into childhood. Despite having classic autism, you can be fairly high functioning. I have 3 masters degrees, but am now deemed to be unable to work outside of a special type of subsidized job or early retirement pension. IQ level is in the high range and have the ability to live independently.

You were speaking by age 3 even if it was echolalias speech. No language delay is what separated "Autistic Disorder" from "Aspergers Disorder" back then. Also you you had to have IQ>70 to be diagnosed with Aspergers. So while "highly intelligent" can be diagnosed as Aspergers it is a myth to think that average to even slightly below average intelligence could not be diagnosed with Aspergers. Aspergers was/is a spectrum also. Therefore some "mild" cases of "Classic Autism" are "milder" then "severe Aspergers".

How you identify is up to you. My advice would be to wait until you get a diagnosis from the more expert clinicians you were referred to.

Consider yourself to be whatever your diagnoses is

It sounds like HFA (high functional autism) brilliant mind , no social skills, typical HFA, just my opinion as a spaceship driver;-)

I had very delayed speech, simply they said my sister always spoke for me.... maybe ASD need perfect speech to speak? any way... I still have a space ship to land.. so may go off line to put in co-ordinates..
HFA is normal for non NTs I cannot speak for others... love and peace , x

People are born with autism, neurotypicals do not develop it....And am I to understand most people under 2 years old perfectly respond to their name, never picky about food they'll eat vs. spit up and never put random things in their mouth that shouldn't go there? And that describes you as well before you reached age 2.5? Maybe the traits just where not noticeable since its kind of hard to determine exactly how a normal baby is going to act.

I'd say since aspergers syndrome is not a diagnoses in the DSM anymore a diagnoses of Autism Spectrum Disorder would be the most useful...that covers aspergers/classic autism and anything in between pretty much.