There is considerable debate concerning the status of Asperger's disorder and the differences between Asperger's and autism. According to a 2009 New York Times article, American Psychiatric Association task force members charged with developing the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V) considered removing Asperger's from the manual. The concern involved the disorder representing a high-functioning autism. For instance, autistic symptoms can range from someone with severe cognitive, social and language impairment to someone who is intellectually gifted and has few continued language deficits but is social impaired.
Language Impairment
Individuals with autism must possess deficits in verbal communication. Historically, 50 percent remained mute throughout their lives. Because of early diagnosis and intervention since the 1990s, this figure has been decreasing. Approximately 85 percent of those who do learn to speak, however, often use echolalia, which is verbal repetition of previously heard words and phrases. They may also display abnormal prosody, which is speech with atypical rhythm, stress, intonation and volume. In addition, autistics often reverse pronouns, have difficulty establishing reciprocity in conversations and can be tangential regarding topics. In contrast, individuals with Asperger's do not have language delays or such problems in communication. They may actually speak more fluently and use vocabulary that may be developmentally superior for what would be expected. Some individuals with high-functioning autism may gain the same language and communication skills as those with Asperger's, making the language distinction variable less viable. According to a 2000 study conducted by Dr. Sally Ozonoff and colleagues and published in the journal "Autism" comparing adolescents with high-functioning autism with Asperger's adolescents, the groups had no clinically significant differences in language.
Idiosyncratic Interests
The intensity and focus of idiosyncratic interests is a hallmark of Asperger's disorder. These interests, which often involve mobile objects, usually take precedence over social interaction. According to Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen in a 2000 article in the "Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience," this should be seen as a difference rather than a weakness. Individuals with autism are generally more interested in order and routine and may be preoccupied with parts of objects, but individuals with Asperger's can possess the same traits.
Intellectual Functioning
According to diagnostic criteria in the DSM-IV Text Revision, individuals with Asperger's do not have significant delays in cognitive development, age-appropriate self-help skills, nonsocial related adaptive behavior or interests in their environment. They may also have average to superior IQs, particularly in verbal intelligence, which is often higher than performance, or non-verbal, intelligence. In contrast, many individuals with autism have low IQs, poor self-care and adaptive skills, but, unlike those with mental retardation, they often present with uneven skills development. Those with high-functioning autism, however, usually present more like Asperger's in their absence of cognitive and skill deficits.
References
- "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition Text Revision)"; American Psychiatric Association; 2000
- "Child Psychopathology (Second Edition)"; Eric J. Mash and Russell A. Barkley, editors; 2003
- Autism Independent UK
