Telling the difference between autism and aspergers?

Question

this isnt about a child, its about 20 year old me. anyway, for one thing, i know i have socialphobia, but the catch 22 of it leaves me too scared to get help for it. basically i was in school from pre k-5th. i couldnt even make friends and i reverted to homeschool where i basically never left the house for 6 years till i started college...now into my 5th semester i find myself adding more and more online classes so i dont have to be around people more than i have to be...

but getting on topic, been doing reading on both, and it seems i have a lot of the symptoms for autismm though ive only been able to find childrens symptoms, and some suggest waiting to see if the outgrow it. well i think im past the outgrowing stage. also reading about aspergers and i have a few symptoms of it too. how do i tell the difference?

Answer 1

Aspergers is just a part of being on the autism spectrum, you are either on the autism spectrum or not. We are all just differently minded, see and think differently from others and this can cause us huge problems of fitting into society, who are often intolerable to minority groups.

Being diagnosed for any difference, it's not about the label

no one need know, it's about true identity. I feel its more important we understand who we are, once we recognize we do in fact have a mask and often act out how we have been told to. Many of us start on a journey, finding we have already spent half our lives trying to be what we are not  - NTs and then we get to spend the next half trying to figure out who we are Aspies / Auties..... fair, NO

Answer 2

The main difference between autism and Asperger's is whether or not there is a language delay. The earlier suggestion that autism = non-verbal is absolutely incorrect. Many people (though not all) with autism can speak and speak very well, but they may not have said a word until they were 4 or sometimes much older, or they may have had  some words but they weren't used in the correct context. Of course autism and Asperger's are both on the autism spectrum and there is some debate amongst academics as to how they they differ and indeed if they differ at all. I know of 4 different sets of diagnostic criteria for Asperger's and they all differ. Two of those also assert that all people with Asperger's have a problem with gross motor skills, whereas this may or may not be the case in someone with autism. Someone with a gross motor problem may be able to paint fine details with a tiny paintbrush or pick up a speck of fluff easily but have trouble playing ball games and so on. So, while some people say that Asperger's and high-functioning autism are the same thing, others say that Asperger's differs, mainly due to language and gross motor elements.

I'm not sure where you're from, but I know in Australia it can be difficult to get a diagnosis if you have managed to get to adulthood without any specialist intervention. I know that sucks but unfortunately all these professionals are booked out with kids as there seem to be more and more all the time who need early intervention. So unless you are considered a danger to yourself or others there tends to be the attitude of "Well, you got this far, it can't be that bad." Even though 'getting this far' may have been excruciatingly difficult, the only alternative is spending a helluva lot of $$$$ and of course that catch of having to get yourself on the phone and into someone's office. Because of this, a lot of adults with autism/Asperger's are self-diagnosed...some more certain than others, and they're not taken seriously or given access to help because they have no formal diagnosis. Certainly it sounds like you have some form of socialphobia and I wonder if there may be some service/s or professionals (psychologist, social workers, counsellors, etc) at your college that may be able to offer you some assistance. They may even be able to point you towards people qualified to diagnose anything you may have on the basis of the fact it is interfering with your studies. If there is someone like that, you might feel more comfortable writing down what your concerns are and how you are feeling and asking what might be available to you in the form of a letter.    Then it is up to them to respond to you which may remove some of the anxiety of having to approach people about it in person or make the first move. I really hope that whatever is causing you difficulty, you get some assistance real quick.

Answer 3

aspergers is a high functioning autism

someone with aspergers can talk

and there are the non verbal ones with autism

what you have may not even be autism

maybe you should find a dr to diagnose you,

if you have aspergers one thing that could

help would be a social skills class

good luck and take care of yourself

eat healthy and get plenty of sleep

that will help too

Answer 4

Aspergers is a form of autism and judging by your sentence structures I'm guessing that you only have socialphobia. You already know the source of why your like this. That's because you haven't been out enough. So just get out there and start talking to people.  

Answer 5

THey're basically the same. It's a huge spectrum