Is Aspergers Syndrome really autism?
Asperger’s Syndrome is on the autistic spectrum, and is classified as an Austistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Classical autism is what most people associate with the term autism, and individuals affected by classical autism have low IQ (intellectual disability) in addition to their autism. The spectrum is a continuum, and as one moves to the higher IQ end of the spectrum, individuals become higher functioning. These individuals may be labelled with Asperger’s Syndrome. There is wider variety of presentation of individuals at this end of the spectrum. If one thinks of a wedge starting from a point and opening up (with two divergent lines), then classical autism is at the point of the wedge and Asperger’s is at the other end. Imagine a rainbow spectrum from the point. Imagine also that there are different shades of for example, green, on the spectrum – yellow-green, olive green, blue-green, lime-green. These different shades represent the variety of presentation of individuals with AS. I w
