Autism and Aperger's Syndrome

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My personal opinion is that AS has related symptoms to autism but it is much better described as a type of Nonverbal Learning Disorder. The fact that AS has no language delay is a big clue that it isn't the same as autism. But regardless of all of this, we are never going to solve this conundrum the way autism research is currently going. Studies just lump AS and autism diagnoses together, not separating them nearly enough to see any potential differences in the brain functions/structures. And getting rid of Asperger's in the DSM-V is a horrible mistake in my opinion. I am not happy that I will just be called "autistic" in the DSM's new terminology, when I don't believe that I have nearly severe enough problems to be considered autistic. While Asperger's CERTAINLY isn't a mild disorder, compared to autism, it is, and I don't feel I'm impaired nearly enough to use that label.

I would say Aspergers is a form of autism.....not a less severe form really just a bit different from regular autism.

The specialists who diagnosed me used the terms HFA and AS interchangeably. When I asked them if there was a difference, they said as far as they were concerned, the two were the same thing.