Why I Have Autism (Rather Than Asperger’s Syndrome) And The Importance In The Differences

February 13, 2015 by Paul Isaacs 4 Comments

Note – This is from a personal and professional perspective. The previous linear diagnostic separation between Autism and Asperger’s was IQ and speech delay in this blog post I shall be challenging those concepts.

Different Worlds – All Human

I think in the ever growing diversity of the distinct and person-centred presentations of autism it is important to know and acknowledge the crucial differences between Autism & Asperger’s Syndrome.

Both are forms of autism but have different “mechanics” that drive them. I have Autism (as opposed to Asperger’s Syndrome).

I live in a world before the literal, words tumble in my mind into sounds I love tone, melody and beats They bring my world alive. I live in a world where visuals hold no significance fragmented and not in my “mind’s eye” and need to be touched in order to be “seen”.

I like elevated gestures and tone when people speak dead words wander alive into my mind and give them meaning and circumstance. Where a sense of “self” is not wanting to be exposed by the directness of people but at the same time I want to understand “other” even if I struggle at times.

I am an empathic young man and this is not through lack of care nor wanting. I care deeply.

Logic and literalism are not the name of the game for me to “decode” the world around me it’s sensing, patterning and feeling to gain an “understanding”. I am using a different part of my brain. So as with AS and Autism has many different presentations to mine.

I think it is important to know the differences it has helped me so much to know that.

Autism & Asperger’s Syndrome – The Differences

Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome are both forms of autism – there have unique diverse characteristics in terms of “mechanics” on the surface one may say they look the same but is one delves deeper you realise that the what is going on may be different in terms either trajectory and/or origin.

Everyone on the spectrum has a unique profile – Olga Bogdashina calls it “autisms” and Donna Williams calls it an autism fruit salad both are saying that it is person-centred, 3 Dimensional, diverse and different.

Understanding the differences is just as beneficial in terms of education, learning, development, environment, identity, mental health, health systems and more.

‘Autism’, (by contrast with Asperger’s Syndrome), can be about the world before the ability to keep up with literal meaning. In this regard it can be a very different world to the world of interpretation and ‘meaning’.”

“I was asked what I thought the main different feature was between Autism and Asperger’s. I think you’ll maybe find in reading through the site on brain hemisphere specialisation that there are many Aspies who may be better at left brain stuff and many Auties who may be more right brain but not nearly recognised for the abilities they do have as much as they are recognised for the left-brain abilities they don’t have.”

Donna Williams

Autism Diverse Profiles, Stacking Of Conditions & “Aspiauts “

With that being said there are people who are dipping both toes – (developmentally and profile-wise) into both the Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome profiles, yes it is that fluid like a pot with many paints inside some. Everyone has a story to tell.

Copyright D.Williams from her Blog

Differences between Aspergers and Autism ‘fruit salads’?

• higher degrees and severity of gut, immune, metabolic disorders, epilepsy and genetic anomalies impacting health systems – This is related to the family and history of cancer of both sides of my family including a recognised gene deletion
• mood, anxiety, compulsive disorders commonly observed since infancy – This is in my book “Living Through The Haze” in my early years I was showing signs of these issues from pre-school onwards
• commonly amazing balance but commonly hypotonia
• simultagnosia/meaning blindness rather than just scotopic sensitivity – Visual fragmentation and “seeing without meaning” is specifically to do with both simultagnosia, context blindness and semantic agnosia
• verbal agnosia/meaning deafness – I have problem with filtering words with meaning they revert back sounds the larger the chunks of information
• verbal communication impairments (aphasia, oral dyspraxia, verbal agnosia and associated echolalia and commonly secondary Selective Mutism)- “losing words within me”, having problems with articulation, patterning, themeing and feeling my own langauge (before interpartive language), reading information without meaning, echolalia and when speech was gained
• higher severity of LD/Dyslexia/agnosias – Yes this relates to understanding/processing information
• tendency toward OCD/Tourettes, also higher rate of Schizotypal PD, DPD is common and tends to be more severe – Yes developed OCD aged 12, tic disorder and throat clearing age 8, Schizotypal and Borderline PDs
• higher tendency to Exposure Anxiety more than AvPD – Exposure Anxiety in Childhood/Teenage Years and and Early Adulthood
• higher tendency toward dissociative states (dissociation, derealisation, depersonalisation) – Yes this relates to me
• poetry by those with autism as opposed to AS commonly indicates those with autism can have high levels of introspection, insight – Yes this does relate to me
• ADHD extremely common co-occurrence – Hyperactivity as a child

Related Blogs

• Studies – Differences Between Asperger’s Syndrome & Autism

• Why I have Autism And Not Asperger’s Syndrome?

• Differences between Aspergers and Autism ‘fruit salads’?

Paul Isaacs 2015