Is aspergers really just the same as autism?

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Are asies really just the same expect they develop language earlier then autistic kids? Is there really anything else that makes autism differ from asies? I keep hearing from people they are pretty much the same expect the language in asies is much better then that from people with autism. I can't tell you how many people mistaken me for an asie due to my social skills, but I just came from the worst possible case of classic autism you can find and just learned how to be like other people around me.

I have a few comments to make on this.

First there is evidence that what is called "autism" is not a single disorder, meaning that one person's autism may have an entirely different cause and physiology than another person's autism.

Second, and people are going to disagree with me on this, if we differentiate autism from AS by saying that autism involves significant language delays while AS doesn't, with little knowledge on the actual physiological mechanism of either, then even with that alone, it's rather significant that one person would have a language delay and another would not. The human brain is hard wired for language. If one person can naturally learn language and meet language milestones, and another cannot, that implies significant neurological differences between the two. Though it's not part of the diagnostic criteria, Hans Asperger noted that the children he observed had verbal IQ's and tended to speak as adults...at least on paper.

So I don't believe AS is the same as autism even though they may be some similarities in outward manifestations and possibly even other neurological similarities. But then again The neurological causes of two autistic individuals with similar functioning levels may be quite different as well.

I just think the language delay is because of a severity of the symptoms. I did not speak early or late enough to be diagnosed classically autistic, but I didn't speak very much until my teen years. And I couldn't do that many things for myself.
Hmm, perhaps I'm closer to classic than I thought?

I think there is a difference. It seems to me the highly verbal Aspie wants very much to connect with others but has trouble doing so and the autie is more content with their internal dialogue.

Why is that question so fundamental for you?
That is a box that some shrinks, (likely NT shrinks) have made for you. If you are able to enjoy your life, who cares?
Why being an AS should be better than being an autie if you hardly can found a borderline?
Divide et impera (for those who aren't obsessed with ancient languages, the translation is "Create a matter of contention that will keep busy people you want to rule, so they didn't notice that you are the enemy, but they will fight each other". Latin was a synthetic language).
This is a typical behaviour for people who are not compliant whit the ruling model. Also woman, homosexuals, people who don't belong to white race behave like this.
I think you are smarter than the average, so try to reason out...

i think i agree with the OP

I don't think that this question can really be answered as a straight-up "yes" or "no". As other posters have pointed out, there are many causes of autism, only a handful of which have been positively identified. However, the physiological causes that we're aware don't map in any direct way to the diagnostic divisions that currently exist. One thing to keep in mind is that the officially accepted criteria for Asperger's Disorder (DSM-IV-TR) are very different from what Hans Asperger originally proposed, and various diagnostic schemes have been tried out over time. At present, the criteria for AS vs. autism are very similar. Indeed, they are so similar that they are hard to tell apart, and the division seems to be arbitrary. At some point in the future we might find good reasons to divide the spectrum up into subtypes, but the currently available evidence does not support the division that exists now.

Aspergers is on the autisitc spectrum. wich means its like Autisms child, if it was to have a kid.

What I have in common with autistics:
Social Anxiety
I do not like to be touched
Sound Sensory Issues
Light Sensory Issues
Balance Problems
High Pain Threshold
Prone to Violent Meltdowns

What I different from LFA/HFA:
Early Infant Speaker
High Verbal IQ
Special Intrests
Talk Too Much
Memory Problems

I am going to make a blunt reply, then give my reason.

Asperger's, HFA, LFA, PDD-NOS, etc. are all the same thing---IMO.

Ok...my reason.

When I was diagnosed with Asperger's, I met criteria. The language issues seem to be a defining factor for Asperger's versus the rest of the spectrum. I believe language delays are actually just one of the many criteria that can render a diagnosis of autism, like "persistent preoccupation with parts of objects" is for Asperger's based on the DSM-IV. What if diagnosticians had said to not have the "preoccupation" issue would then render a person not having Asperger's, but some other spectrum label? This is what I believe for the language delay. It is a criteria for autism---but not a necessary one. We don't have to meet every criteria---just enough to render the diagnosis.

This is hard to explain. But I hope I made my point.

Please feel free to argue this opinion of mine---I invite it. I must admit when I see students at my school with classic autism, it can seem very different from those of us with Asperger's. Let's debate away.

I think individuals with Aspergers have more overlaps with those who have Autism than they do with NT's. Obviously, there are large variations within every group, but there are overlaps that really mark the conditions.