Also, as a Special Education teacher, what tools are available to test for Aspergers or autism?
Answer Hey Ellen, Thank you for your important question. This is a source of confusion and debate even amoung experts within the Autism field. The mother of Autism awareness-Temple Grandin considers herself to be high functioning Autism. She thinks there is a very distinct difference between HFA & AS. Most people consider these terms/diagnoses to be interchangable. I fall in the latter camp. I do think there is a possibility that HFA is distinct from AS but I have not been able to appreciate any differences. As to the techniques and tools for assessmnent, as you might know there is not any formal tools to test for Asperger’s Syndrome. The one I use as a reliable screen for Asperger’s is the AQ. it is sponcered by the British Resercher Simon Baron Cohen. I believe you can find him and the AQ on a search engine and begin using it. That is my favorite but there are others.
