HFA or Asperger's?

Post Reply New Topic

Okay, I know that it is all considered autism, but I am just really trying to figure out where my son fits into all of this so that I can understand him better. Just thought I would get opinions!

Very delayed gross motor skills (walked at 21 mos.) Walking fine now, but some balance issues
Trouble with fine motor tasks
Little interest in peers.
Special interest of car makes and models
Excellent memory
No delay in acquiring language, but strange language patterns such as echolalia, trouble with back and forth conversation, making up words, lots of repeating. His language is improving very well now

Flaps hands when excited.
Now asking repetitive questions and obvious questions like "Is this car silver? when it is clearly blue and he knows it!

The things that make me feel that it is not Asperger's are:

He is not real rigid, he is pretty flexible and can go with the flow for the most part.

He doesn't talk like a little professor.

Doesn't have extreme sensory issues.

He is now almost 5 and was diagnosed with PDD_NOS at 2.5------We also feel that he has ADHD or auditory processing problems since he is very distractible and has a hard time staying on task.

Maybe PDD is still the best diagnosis, What do you all think?

Oh, I left out that he has always had very good eye contact!

I think it doesn't matter. It is obviously non-standard pattern so formal diagnosis and recipe will not help. What would help is concetrating on specific tasks (motor skill improvement or teaching social skills).
My boy is similar though his language is weak point and motor skills are fine and now we concentrate on school/life skills and try to enjoy his childhood without all the diagnosis drama.

He sounds a fair bit like my little guy (except the good eye contact.) His official diagnosis is autism, but we were told that he would "present" more as having Aspergers as he got older, and that has been very true. You may find the same as well. He got more inflexible as he got older, I'm sorry to say. Though that has improved.

As I so often say, the whole diagnostic process is very subjective. What you say here--"No delay in acquiring language, but strange language patterns such as echolalia, trouble with back and forth conversation, making up words, lots of repeating"--sounds a lot like my son as he was. Some would call that Aspergers, the psychologist who diagnosed him considered it enough of a langauge delay to call it autism.

For AS it is "no significant language delays" but odd speech patterns may be present..usually as a result of an auditory processing disorder though I think.

I think PDD sounds fitting.

Not everyone with AS is as rigid as the literature would make them sound. Since I didn't grow up in a very structured environment, I didn't have much to be rigid about. Since there was no routine to begin with, I had no routine to stick to. I did, however, like sameness as far as food and clothes went. I absolutely hated anyone other than my mother picking me up from school, and transitions were difficult.

I also didn't speak much in the way of conversation (though I could) until I was 8 or 9.

Aren't HFA and AS just diffrent words for the same thing?

It all depends on who you ask.

In schools it all fits under the Autism diagnosis now. My Psychiatrist and others have told me that they are going to basically do away with PDD NOS and Asperger's and call it all Autism.
There are different levels of skills that all Autistic people have. My 7 year old Aspie cant read but my 5 year old Autie can. My 7 year old can carry on a conversation with you my 5 year old can not. I dont really think you can categorize people with Autism. You can put five 5 year olds with Autism in a room and they will all exhibit different symptoms and abilities but its still all Autism. Personally Im tired of all the High, Moderate, Low functioning crap....because in what way are people High Functioning? In what way are they Low Functioning?.....I think you can be all at once it just depends on the person.

I think that was the philosophy of the psych. who diagnosed my son. Which was really good for us, because it meant he qualified for regional center services, which he would not have with any other diagnosis.