Autism vs. Asperger's Syndrome
Is Autism and Asperger's Syndrome the same or different?
From what I understand Asperger's Syndrome falls under the broad umbrella of Autism but some people like to keep it separate and refer to Asperger's Syndrome as something different. The reason may be that most people who are unaware about the Autism spectrum think that a person with Autism is something similar to 'Rain Man' or a person rocking in a chair - in other words low functioning and non verbal. The fact is Autism by itself could mean a whole lot of things. People with Asperger's Syndrome are usually high functioning and verbal - very verbal so they may seem to be 'normal' to people until they do something odd socially.
I believe this is an issue that needs serious and primary addressing by the mental health community - the criticism is that Asperger's could account for countless non-social, or awkward people, that seem to be unable to use typical social abilities and interact satisfactorially - nerds, in other words. Every shy, withdrawn, socially clumsy person could be Asperger's. I'd say I have it myself, high functioning for the most part, verbal, but have all these earmarks, plus have other problems with memory and extra social anxiety and such.
I am not certain how this fits within the Autism spectrum, I guess because of the inability for the person to relate to normal stimuli or social scenes?
Well a person ith Asperger's Syndrome has some particular characteristics that are not aligned with a typical 'nerd' definition. For instance, someone with Asperger's may not know how to read emotion or expression. Therefore when you expect someone to laugh they stay serious. When you expect them to react to an emergency they just break down or curl up.
Jpatt, the spectrum is huge and even within Aspergers every case is different. There are many people with Aspergers who are very social which is rare, but there are. My son is High Functioning and he is extremely social and loves to talk to people yet he is socially awkward (like most autistic people).