Difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

[Guest guest]

What's the basic difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

[Guest guest]

I believe they are one and the same.

Janice Rushen

"I will try to be open to all avenues of wisdom and hope"

From: charles_w_2000 <charles_w_2000@...>Subject: ( ) Difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's? Date: Friday, June 26, 2009, 10:43 AM

What's the basic difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

[Guest guest]

The basic difference is high functioning autism (HFA) didn't have early speech

From: charles_w_2000 <charles_w_2000@...> Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 10:43:48 AMSubject: ( ) Difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

What's the basic difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Tony Attwood

says the difference is that they are spelt differently …

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of Rose

Sent: Saturday, 27 June 2009 8:04

AM

To:

Subject: Re: ( )

Difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

The basic difference is high

functioning autism (HFA) didn't have early speech

From:

charles_w_2000 <charles_w_2000 >

Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009

10:43:48 AM

Subject: ( )

Difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

What's the basic difference between high functioning

autism and Asperger's?

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

My understanding of the difference is whether they had a language delay/problems

before age 3, if development seemed normal or not. If they did have a delay,

then HFA; if not, then Aspergers.

Now, what type of delays involving " language " I'm not sure. Is it understanding

it, their use of it, or age they start talking, or...?

Other than the language delay, HFA & Aspergers is the same.

>

> What's the basic difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

>

[Guest guest]

>

> Now, what type of delays involving " language " I'm not sure. Is it

understanding it, their use of it, or age they start talking, or...?

From what I could tell from our son's autism eval, they were looking for typical

developmental benchmarks, nothing fancy. I think a 3yo is supposed to be

talking in phrases. So, if your 3yo is still only using single words, he/she

may be considered language delayed.

Kids with Asperger typically have very high verbal skills, in general. A child

with HFA does not. I would think this difference in verbal skills leads to

other differences, although I can't say I'm knowledgeable to say what. And I

don't know if this is just true at age 3 or whether the HFA kids catch up to the

AS kids in verbal skills? But, at age 3, they would present very different from

each other.

On a technical level, I think maybe in autistic kids the non-verbal IQ is higher

than the verbal IQ and in Asperger the verbal IQ is usually higher than the

non-verbal IQ (unless they have NLD)? Perhaps a question for a neurologist or

neuropsych. This would lead to differences, I would think.

There are so many individual differences within both HFA and Asperger, it seems

to me like it would be hard to tell if the differences come from a different

diagnosis or differences within a diagnosis. I'm not sure why you want to know

the difference, but I think maybe it is more useful to look at symptoms when

analyzing a child's needs rather than what category of autism fits. Just my two

cents. For example, what mattered when qualifying for SPED was that my son had

processing speed issues and executive dysfunction, had social cognitive deficits

of a certain type; it doesn't really matter what " type " of autism he has.

Ideally, it shouldn't even matter " what " he has, autism or whatever, but I don't

think many school districts would settle for just symptoms.

Ruth

[Guest guest]

I thought it also related to IQ number too. Lower IQ was characterized as HFA,

higher as Aspergers. But I don't know for sure.

Sue

> >

> > What's the basic difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Don't think IQ is considered. is gifted (no genius but gifted) and they

(TEACCH tested him) felt he was HFA (re a language delay) and I felt Aspergers

fit (didn't agree about lang delay at the time) so they put on report

" HFA/Aspergers " . HFA can be high IQ, can be borderline too, it's a very long

spectrum range for HFA/autism, a low-end and then far away the high-end (as

TEACCH reminded me, and I can see that now).

[Guest guest]

In some states the label of High Functioning autism gives you more services than just being labeled with Aspergers

From: Miss Grunge <missgrunge@...>Subject: RE: ( ) Difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's? Date: Friday, June 26, 2009, 7:52 PM

Tony Attwood says the difference is that they are spelt differently …

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of RoseSent: Saturday, 27 June 2009 8:04 AM Subject: Re: ( ) Difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

The basic difference is high functioning autism (HFA) didn't have early speech

From: charles_w_2000 <charles_w_2000> Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 10:43:48 AMSubject: ( ) Difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

What's the basic difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ __

[Guest guest]

Asperger syndrome is a much more specific diagnosis, with specific diagnostic criteria. Until recently, the biggest difference between Asperger syndrome and high functioning autism was based on whether a person developed speech typically as a toddler. Those who did develop speech typically were considered to have Asperger syndrome while those who did not (even if they developed typical speech later) were diagnosed with autism. Now, experts are wondering whether speech development is the best way to distinguish between autism and Asperger syndrome or if there even is a difference.

High Functioning Autism - What Is High Functioning Autism Until recently, the biggest difference between Asperger syndrome and high functioning autism was based on whether a person developed speech typically as a ...

The top paragraph is what was explained to me. Some specialist from the old school still follow that rule while others go by - where the child is now. I was also told by a few professionals that HFA is not a diagnosis.

but like you said. I think what's most important is the child getting the right services for his/her needs. the right diagnosis helps anyone working with your child to get a better understanding of him/her while the wrong diagnosis could be a disadvantage.,

From: r_woman2 <me2ruth@...> Sent: Saturday, June 27, 2009 1:12:17 PMSubject: ( ) Re: Difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

>> Now, what type of delays involving "language" I'm not sure. Is it understanding it, their use of it, or age they start talking, or...?From what I could tell from our son's autism eval, they were looking for typical developmental benchmarks, nothing fancy. I think a 3yo is supposed to be talking in phrases. So, if your 3yo is still only using single words, he/she may be considered language delayed.Kids with Asperger typically have very high verbal skills, in general. A child with HFA does not. I would think this difference in verbal skills leads to other differences, although I can't say I'm knowledgeable to say what. And I don't know if this is just true at age 3 or whether the HFA kids catch up to

the AS kids in verbal skills? But, at age 3, they would present very different from each other.On a technical level, I think maybe in autistic kids the non-verbal IQ is higher than the verbal IQ and in Asperger the verbal IQ is usually higher than the non-verbal IQ (unless they have NLD)? Perhaps a question for a neurologist or neuropsych. This would lead to differences, I would think. There are so many individual differences within both HFA and Asperger, it seems to me like it would be hard to tell if the differences come from a different diagnosis or differences within a diagnosis. I'm not sure why you want to know the difference, but I think maybe it is more useful to look at symptoms when analyzing a child's needs rather than what category of autism fits. Just my two cents. For example, what mattered when qualifying for SPED was that my son had processing speed issues and executive dysfunction, had social cognitive deficits of a

certain type; it doesn't really matter what "type" of autism he has. Ideally, it shouldn't even matter "what" he has, autism or whatever, but I don't think many school districts would settle for just symptoms. Ruth

[Guest guest]

I read a book recently in which the author said HFA is not a dx and refused to use it. I really disagree with him because I actually have two kids who have HFA and not AS. I do not believe the language delay is a minor detail. Out of that delay or with that delay, comes a whole host of other problems. You basically have a child who is autistic, who is unable to speak, does not have a very large vocabulary, cannot ask for what they want, etc. These are major delays, not just a minor blip. The thing too is that you don't know if your child will stay that way or improve. Each time one of my ds's made an advancement, it was a blessing. Nobody would predict better things at the time because we don't know why some kids with autism advance and some do not.

Kids with AS tend to develop fairly normally overall. They do have problems with language but not in basic language development - more in the use of language/pragmatics and how to interact with others. They want to belong and fit in, make friends, play with the other kids. But they have trouble doing that. In HFA kids, they don't even notice there are other kids let alone have any language to use if they even wanted to belong, play with others, share.

Attwood had a nice article on his website about a study of these kids, studying the difference between AS and HFA kids. While the autistic kids were severely delayed early on, they (for unknown reasons) suddenly had big growth spurts in development of skills such that they soon had a learning trajectory that was fairly like the AS kids. My big question is to wonder why some kids with autism will have these growth spurts and why some will not? I think it is more interesting than what is AS vs. HFA. And maybe in answering that, we would find the answer to the other.

In my own little world here, my kids are different from the AS kids I have seen/met. The language delay for my older ds has had a major permanent impact on his life and skills. He is never chatty or talkative, he says only what is necessary to say. When I have seen peers of his with AS, they always were loud and talkative and I have often thought of them as "outies" vs my "innie". They will tell you chapter and verse of what interests them. My ds would tell you nothing unless you pulled it out of him.

My 12 yo ds is more talkative but not telling you about his latest interest. Instead, he rather gives you details and does not realize you already know things. For instance, we saw the med doc yesterday and as soon as the doc walked in the room, he bellowed, "Wellbutrin does NOT work!" Then later when we were discussing what other med to try, he interrupted to let the doctor know that studies show combining an antidepressant with abilify will make the antidepressant work better (commericals, lol). So he isn't really rattling on about his interests but more that he assumes you don't know anything and you should know this. He has "information" that tends to come out in huge chunks that way. The language delay, again, was a major impact in his development. Even though he got on a better "trajectory", he always was behind in skills overall, in vocabulary and also, in desire to learn. Until he got to 4th grade, his speech was behind in all areas. He finally got caught up and he's more like AS kids now in his language skill deficits. But I think it's a lot like reading skills - so many things are learned early on that if you are delayed, you almost never really catch up. And the more you are behind, the more learning you miss out on.

Also, someone posted a really interesting article once a while back on a study done on kids with autism and AS involving their walking gait. They xrayed their gait as they walked and there was a difference there too in what parts of the body were being used to walk, whether they swung their arms or not and then how. I don't remember the link off hand but if I run acoss it again, I will post it. I thought it was really interesting. I think the more that things are studied, the more we will learn about the differences although in some respects, they are "in the same boat" overall.

Roxanna

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." E. Burke

( ) Re: Difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

>

> Now, what type of delays involving "language" I'm not sure. Is it understanding it, their use of it, or age they start talking, or...?

From what I could tell from our son's autism eval, they were looking for typical developmental benchmarks, nothing fancy. I think a 3yo is supposed to be talking in phrases. So, if your 3yo is still only using single words, he/she may be considered language delayed.

Kids with Asperger typically have very high verbal skills, in general. A child with HFA does not. I would think this difference in verbal skills leads to other differences, although I can't say I'm knowledgeable to say what. And I don't know if this is just true at age 3 or whether the HFA kids catch up to

the AS kids in verbal skills? But, at age 3, they would present very different from each other.

On a technical level, I think maybe in autistic kids the non-verbal IQ is higher than the verbal IQ and in Asperger the verbal IQ is usually higher than the non-verbal IQ (unless they have NLD)? Perhaps a question for a neurologist or neuropsych. This would lead to differences, I would think.

There are so many individual differences within both HFA and Asperger, it seems to me like it would be hard to tell if the differences come from a different diagnosis or differences within a diagnosis. I'm not sure why you want to know the difference, but I think maybe it is more useful to look at symptoms when analyzing a child's needs rather than what category of autism fits. Just my two cents. For example, what mattered when qualifying for SPED was that my son had processing speed issues and executive dysfunction, had social cognitive deficits of a

certain type; it doesn't really matter what "type" of autism he has. Ideally, it shouldn't even matter "what" he has, autism or whatever, but I don't think many school districts would settle for just symptoms.

Ruth

A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps!

[Guest guest]

My 9 yr. old boy w/ AS is FINALLY learning to run and swing his arms appropriately while running. It does happen in real life and the improving is slow, but does happen. Don't know if his gait will ever be normal completely, though. But he won 1st place in a tennis tournament yesterday against 30 other kids, all NT and some were 10 yr. and 11 yrs old., so we all should just keep chuggin' along! They sometimes surprise you.From: Roxanna <MadIdeas@...>Subject: Re: ( ) Re: Difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's? Date: Sunday, June 28, 2009, 11:43 AM

I read a book recently in which the author said HFA is not a dx and refused to use it. I really disagree with him because I actually have two kids who have HFA and not AS. I do not believe the language delay is a minor detail. Out of that delay or with that delay, comes a whole host of other problems. You basically have a child who is autistic, who is unable to speak, does not have a very large vocabulary, cannot ask for what they want, etc. These are major delays, not just a minor blip. The thing too is that you don't know if your child will stay that way or improve. Each time one of my ds's made an advancement, it was a blessing. Nobody would predict better things at the time because we don't know why some kids with autism advance and some do not.

Kids with AS tend to develop fairly normally overall. They do have problems with language but not in basic language development - more in the use of language/pragmatics and how to interact with others. They want to belong and fit in, make friends, play with the other kids. But they have trouble doing that. In HFA kids, they don't even notice there are other kids let alone have any language to use if they even wanted to belong, play with others, share.

Attwood had a nice article on his website about a study of these kids, studying the difference between AS and HFA kids. While the autistic kids were severely delayed early on, they (for unknown reasons) suddenly had big growth spurts in development of skills such that they soon had a learning trajectory that was fairly like the AS kids. My big question is to wonder why some kids with autism will have these growth spurts and why some will not? I think it is more interesting than what is AS vs. HFA. And maybe in answering that, we would find the answer to the other.

In my own little world here, my kids are different from the AS kids I have seen/met. The language delay for my older ds has had a major permanent impact on his life and skills. He is never chatty or talkative, he says only what is necessary to say. When I have seen peers of his with AS, they always were loud and talkative and I have often thought of them as "outies" vs my "innie". They will tell you chapter and verse of what interests them. My ds would tell you nothing unless you pulled it out of him.

My 12 yo ds is more talkative but not telling you about his latest interest. Instead, he rather gives you details and does not realize you already know things. For instance, we saw the med doc yesterday and as soon as the doc walked in the room, he bellowed, "Wellbutrin does NOT work!" Then later when we were discussing what other med to try, he interrupted to let the doctor know that studies show combining an antidepressant with abilify will make the antidepressant work better (commericals, lol). So he isn't really rattling on about his interests but more that he assumes you don't know anything and you should know this. He has "information" that tends to come out in huge chunks that way. The language delay, again, was a major impact in his development. Even though he got on a better "trajectory" , he always was behind in skills overall, in vocabulary and also, in desire to learn. Until he got to 4th grade,

his speech was behind in all areas. He finally got caught up and he's more like AS kids now in his language skill deficits. But I think it's a lot like reading skills - so many things are learned early on that if you are delayed, you almost never really catch up. And the more you are behind, the more learning you miss out on.

Also, someone posted a really interesting article once a while back on a study done on kids with autism and AS involving their walking gait. They xrayed their gait as they walked and there was a difference there too in what parts of the body were being used to walk, whether they swung their arms or not and then how. I don't remember the link off hand but if I run acoss it again, I will post it. I thought it was really interesting. I think the more that things are studied, the more we will learn about the differences although in some respects, they are "in the same boat" overall.

Roxanna

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." E. Burke

( ) Re: Difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

>

> Now, what type of delays involving "language" I'm not sure. Is it understanding it, their use of it, or age they start talking, or...?

From what I could tell from our son's autism eval, they were looking for typical developmental benchmarks, nothing fancy. I think a 3yo is supposed to be talking in phrases. So, if your 3yo is still only using single words, he/she may be considered language delayed.

Kids with Asperger typically have very high verbal skills, in general. A child with HFA does not. I would think this difference in verbal skills leads to other differences, although I can't say I'm knowledgeable to say what. And I don't know if this is just true at age 3 or whether the HFA kids catch up to

the AS kids in verbal skills? But, at age 3, they would present very different from each other.

On a technical level, I think maybe in autistic kids the non-verbal IQ is higher than the verbal IQ and in Asperger the verbal IQ is usually higher than the non-verbal IQ (unless they have NLD)? Perhaps a question for a neurologist or neuropsych. This would lead to differences, I would think.

There are so many individual differences within both HFA and Asperger, it seems to me like it would be hard to tell if the differences come from a different diagnosis or differences within a diagnosis. I'm not sure why you want to know the difference, but I think maybe it is more useful to look at symptoms when analyzing a child's needs rather than what category of autism fits. Just my two cents. For example, what mattered when qualifying for SPED was that my son had processing speed issues and executive dysfunction, had social cognitive deficits of a

certain type; it doesn't really matter what "type" of autism he has. Ideally, it shouldn't even matter "what" he has, autism or whatever, but I don't think many school districts would settle for just symptoms.

Ruth

A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps!

[Guest guest]

>

>

> I read a book recently in which the author said HFA is not a dx and refused

to use it.? I really disagree with him because I actually have two kids who have

HFA and not AS.? I do not believe the language delay is a minor detail.? Out of

that delay or with that delay, comes a whole host of other problems.? You

basically have a child who is autistic, who is unable to speak, does not have a

very large vocabulary, cannot ask for what they want, etc.? These are major

delays, not just a minor blip.?

Here is a good article on this. Some things you will agree with and some you

won't. I put a piece of it below. I think it depends on who you go to how your

child gets diagnosed; professionals have some discretion.

http://www.aspergersyndrome.com/html/research_paper.html

Asperger's Syndrome v. High Functioning Autism

Similarities have been noted between the definition of AS and that of autism

without mental retardation, or High Functioning Autism (HFA). Mental retardation

co-occurs with autism in about 75% of reported cases so the DSM-IV definition

allows for children who do not demonstrate emasured intelligence in the mentally

retarded range. Currently there are no widely accepted diagnostic guidelines

specifically for High Functioning Autism (Gillberg, 1998). HFA may be most

appropriately diagnosed when the criteria for autistic disorder are met

(American Psychiatric Association, 1994) and Full Scale IQ exceeds the mentally

retarded range. As compared to AS, HFAs generally have lower Full Scale IQs,

with less apparent Verbal/Performance IQ discrepancies. In AS, Verbal IQ

typically exceeds Performance IQ (Gillberg 1989, Ozonoff & Farham, 1994). There

may be more of a family history in AS, especially in fathers of AS children,

than in HFA (Gillberg, 1989). Motor clumsiness may be more characteristic of AS,

whereas motor mannerisms may appear more in association with HFA (Gillberg,

Steffenburg, & Schaumann, 1991).

Abnormalities and delays in language and communication may be more severe in HFA

than in AS. Peculiarities of speech and language may nonetheless be present in

children eventually identified as AS. Since most cases of AS are diagnosed at

approximately age seven or later (Gillberg & Gillberg, 1989), data regarding

early language development may depend largely on accurate recollections by

parents, which may not be reliable (Hart, Bax, & , 1978). The

exclusionary criterion of the absence of language delays for the AS diagnosis

remains controversial (Gillberg 1995) .

AS may also be distinguished from autism on the basis of early attachment

patterns. In early childhood, AS is associated with adequate attachment to

family members and with approaches to interact with peers (although

inappropriate and awkward). In autism, attachment to family members is more

atypical and broader social patterns are marked by withdrawal and aloofness

(Klin & Volkmar, 1997).

AS may be most accurately identified through neuropsychological assessment

(Lockyer & Rutter, 1970, Happe, 1994). Details of these patterns will be

discussed later.

[Guest guest]

Hey, great great news!! Yeah for him!

Roxanna

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." E. Burke

Re: ( ) Re: Difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

My 9 yr. old boy w/ AS is FINALLY learning to run and swing his arms appropriately while running. It does happen in real life and the improving is slow, but does happen. Don't know if his gait will ever be normal completely, though. But he won 1st place in a tennis tournament yesterday against 30 other kids, all NT and some were 10 yr. and 11 yrs old., so we all should just keep chuggin' along! They sometimes surprise you.

---

An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps!

[Guest guest]

I think that is what I said for the most part. I don't agree that the discrepancy is not as severe in HFA and probably it can show that way more often in HFA kids vs AS kids due to language delay in autism, which as I point out, is not a little blip of a problem. How much of a delay and how long it persists will affect these numbers overall. I do agree that the difference in VIQ is higher with AS kids and PIQ is higher with HFA kids, but that's a given with everything else said.

It says language delays are not readily recalled when evaluating AS kids and that is another point that I was trying to make. With HFA kids, you will know they have a language delay. You won't guess or have to think. It will be obvious. This is another reason why it's not "mild AS" or a variant of AS but rather AS and HFA are both parts of the autism spectrum, IMO.

Also, it says something about AS kids not generally dx'd until age 7 or 8. With HFA, you will dx these kids with autism before or around age 3. Their development is atypical. It is autism until they catch a sudden track where they suddenly start gaining development. I don't know that I agree with pdd-nos being thought of as "mild AS." It is given out but just like it says, they don't fund studies of "nos" disorders. Well, having a kid dx'd with pdd-nos is equally as difficult in obtaining services because people don't know what it is. I think pdd-nos would better fit between AS and HFA/autism. It's meeting a lot of the criteria for autism but not all. And if that is true, then it's more severe than AS, which is often not dx'd until older (meaning it is not as severe.)

Also, in discussing how AS has more of a genetic component, I would not agree to that. I think that is true only if you consider it a separate disorder from ASD. I don't think it is separate. I think that variations happen within families - from autistic to AS and then you will see splatters of other mental illness disorders from depression to schizophrenia to OCD. They all seem to float together within families affected by autism. If you see a child with autism, you can usually look at the family and find milder forms of it or other problems - you find the father may be OCD or the mom is mildly depressed or grandpa never did well in school although he's obviously a genius, and then they have a "crazy Uncle Sherman" who died young and probably was bipolar and a cousin or two with AS....yadda yadda yadda. I think saying AS has more of genetic component is thought true because of how so many people self-dx themselves and their family members with it. If someone had trouble making friends as a kid, everyone says, "AS!" I wouldn't agree with that and it would go back to how these kinds of problems flit through families in waves. Probably a lot of the family members do display milder characteristics or maybe a more noticeable characteristic in one area but not fitting a full dx within a PDD. But I think it happens a lot more in AS than in autism because frankly, if someone in the family is handflapping, you'd get them eval'd vs. if someone is "just" OCD. (I do not think OCD is mild as a problem but rather that it will be less obvious compared to some of the more autistic behaviors like hand flapping.) Also, there seems to be a line between what is considered just "odd" vs a true disorder and this happens within the dx of AS. Again, back to that "instant AS label" for anyone who couldn't make a friend in childhood or who is not a big social butterfly today.

Again, the difference between AS and HFA is not that interesting to me or perhaps I have it worked out in my head so it's not. I would rather like to know why some kids with autism turn out to be HF in the end. I don't agree it is IQ (if one is MR, they will be LF vs. if their IQ is above MR, they are HFA) I think instead that IQ is simply recording the facts of development as we can observe it since the more higher development, the better the IQ, in general. I just feel that something connects within some kids, causing them to suddenly move forward in development and this, obviously, improves their IQ as well and their functioning level. I might have just talked in a circle because I lack sufficient caffiene. lol.

Roxanna

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." E. Burke

( ) Re: Difference between high functioning autism and Asperger's?

>

>

> I read a book recently in which the author said HFA is not a dx and refused to use it.? I really disagree with him because I actually have two kids who have HFA and not AS.? I do not believe the language delay is a minor detail.? Out of that delay or with that delay, comes a whole host of other problems.? You basically have a child who is autistic, who is unable to speak, does not have a very large vocabulary, cannot ask for what they want, etc.? These are major delays, not just a minor blip.?

Here is a good article on this. Some things you will agree with and some you won't. I put a piece of it below. I think it depends on who you go to how your child gets diagnosed; professionals have some discretion.

http://www.aspergersyndrome.com/html/research_paper.html

Asperger's Syndrome v. High Functioning Autism

Similarities have been noted between the definition of AS and that of autism without mental retardation, or High Functioning Autism (HFA). Mental retardation co-occurs with autism in about 75% of reported cases so the DSM-IV definition allows for children who do not demonstrate emasured intelligence in the mentally retarded range. Currently there are no widely accepted diagnostic guidelines specifically for High Functioning Autism (Gillberg, 1998). HFA may be most appropriately diagnosed when the criteria for autistic disorder are met (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) and Full Scale IQ exceeds the mentally retarded range. As compared to AS, HFAs generally have lower Full Scale IQs, with less apparent Verbal/Performance IQ discrepancies. In AS, Verbal IQ typically exceeds Performance IQ (Gillberg 1989, Ozonoff & Farham, 1994). There may be more of a family history in AS, especially in fathers of AS children, than in HFA (Gillberg, 1989). Motor clumsiness may be more characteristic of AS, whereas motor mannerisms may appear more in association with HFA (Gillberg, Steffenburg, & Schaumann, 1991).

Abnormalities and delays in language and communication may be more severe in HFA than in AS. Peculiarities of speech and language may nonetheless be present in children eventually identified as AS. Since most cases of AS are diagnosed at approximately age seven or later (Gillberg & Gillberg, 1989), data regarding early language development may depend largely on accurate recollections by parents, which may not be reliable (Hart, Bax, & , 1978). The exclusionary criterion of the absence of language delays for the AS diagnosis remains controversial (Gillberg 1995) .

AS may also be distinguished from autism on the basis of early attachment patterns. In early childhood, AS is associated with adequate attachment to family members and with approaches to interact with peers (although inappropriate and awkward). In autism, attachment to family members is more atypical and broader social patterns are marked by withdrawal and aloofness (Klin & Volkmar, 1997).

AS may be most accurately identified through neuropsychological assessment (Lockyer & Rutter, 1970, Happe, 1994). Details of these patterns will be discussed later.

An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps!

[Guest guest]

I agree with a lot of the responses to this topic. My son was DX'ed at age 3; I

think this in itself is a big reason why he was found to have HFA instead of AS.

The speech delay part, I think, is based on the evaluator's preference. My son

began talking early and knew 1000's of words by age 3. He could use 4-6 word

sentences and convey his needs. Where he was lacking was in conversation skills.

He couldn't answer questions, even to say where he went an hour ago or what he

had for lunch. He began to repeat the questions instead of trying to answer

them. If he asked me a question and I answered it, he would continue to ask me

the question another 100 times. That was when I finally asked for an eval

because it was driving me crazy! He is very smart, but has not had an IQ test.

He has the odd gait and other AS-like symptoms, but he was not very attached to

us when younger. No separation anxiety, stranger-danger, clinginess - ever. So,

it would be hard to try to categorize him as one or the other.

He is much better now and we can have some back-and-forth conversations. The

repeating has stopped. He still has some problems though, but seeing that his dx

was just in January, I am amazed at the progress made. So, HFA or AS, I decided

it didn't matter. He is getting help, and getting better.

TJ

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> > I read a book recently in which the author said HFA is not a dx and refused

to use it.? I really disagree with him because I actually have two kids who have

HFA and not AS.? I do not believe the language delay is a minor detail.? Out of

that delay or with that delay, comes a whole host of other problems.? You

basically have a child who is autistic, who is unable to speak, does not have a

very large vocabulary, cannot ask for what they want, etc.? These are major

delays, not just a minor blip.?

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> Here is a good article on this. Some things you will agree with and some you

won't. I put a piece of it below. I think it depends on who you go to how your

child gets diagnosed; professionals have some discretion.

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> http://www.aspergersyndrome.com/html/research_paper.html

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> Asperger's Syndrome v. High Functioning Autism

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> Similarities have been noted between the definition of AS and that of autism

without mental retardation, or High Functioning Autism (HFA). Mental retardation

co-occurs with autism in about 75% of reported cases so the DSM-IV definition

allows for children who do not demonstrate emasured intelligence in the mentally

retarded range. Currently there are no widely accepted diagnostic guidelines

specifically for High Functioning Autism (Gillberg, 1998). HFA may be most

appropriately diagnosed when the criteria for autistic disorder are met

(American Psychiatric Association, 1994) and Full Scale IQ exceeds the mentally

retarded range. As compared to AS, HFAs generally have lower Full Scale IQs,

with less apparent Verbal/Performance IQ discrepancies. In AS, Verbal IQ

typically exceeds Performance IQ (Gillberg 1989, Ozonoff & Farham, 1994). There

may be more of a family history in AS, especially in fathers of AS children,

than in HFA (Gillberg, 1989). Motor clumsiness may be more characteristic of AS,

whereas motor mannerisms may appear more in association with HFA (Gillberg,

Steffenburg, & Schaumann, 1991).

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> Abnormalities and delays in language and communication may be more severe in

HFA than in AS. Peculiarities of speech and language may nonetheless be present

in children eventually identified as AS. Since most cases of AS are diagnosed at

approximately age seven or later (Gillberg & Gillberg, 1989), data regarding

early language development may depend largely on accurate recollections by

parents, which may not be reliable (Hart, Bax, & , 1978). The

exclusionary criterion of the absence of language delays for the AS diagnosis

remains controversial (Gillberg 1995) .

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> AS may also be distinguished from autism on the basis of early attachment

patterns. In early childhood, AS is associated with adequate attachment to

family members and with approaches to interact with peers (although

inappropriate and awkward). In autism, attachment to family members is more

atypical and broader social patterns are marked by withdrawal and aloofness

(Klin & Volkmar, 1997).

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> AS may be most accurately identified through neuropsychological assessment

(Lockyer & Rutter, 1970, Happe, 1994). Details of these patterns will be

discussed later.

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