What is the difference between autism and Asperger’s?
There are a couple of important distinctions between autism and Asperger’s. In autism, you have three main categories of symptoms—impairment in communication, impairment in social interaction, and restricted and repetitive interests and behaviors. What’s different about Asperger’s is that it doesn’t involve a delay in language development. Also, you can’t have any clinically significant delays in cognitive development. Does that mean Asperger’s is not as serious as autism? Not necessarily. You hear the terms “high-functioning” and “low-functioning” that refer to the abilities of people in the autism spectrum. With autism, you see all levels of functioning. In contrast, anyone with Asperger’s is by definition in the high-functioning range due to the lack of clinically significant delays in language or cognitive development. In the spectrum, does everything fall under autism or Asperger’s? Both of these disorders fit into the broader category of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). I
