At this point in time, there does not seem to be a consensus regarding the distinction between Asperger disorder/syndrome and autistic disorder. There does seem to be agreement that people with Asperger disorder/syndrome, like those with autism, share difficulties in the three major areas mentioned above. There is less agreement about what distinguishes one diagnosis from the other.
According to the definition used in the DSM-IV, in Asperger's Disorder, there can be no delay in the development of language. In other words, although language is disordered, words, phrases, and sentences came in at the expected time. However, Tony Attwood, in his book, "Asperger's Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals", has a somewhat different view. He states that, "Research suggests almost 50 per cent of children with Asperger's Syndrome are late in their development of speech, but they are usually talking fluently by the age of five."
Similarly, Peter Tanguey believes the definition of Asperger's Disorder in the DSM-IV does not cover enough people, since many, if not most of these children had delays in language development. Another distinction has to do with cognition. In autism, there is an enormous range of intellectual functioning. In Asperger syndrome, cognition is normal, and often gifted in certain areas.
Lastly, some clinicians believe that the difficulties with social relatedness are more severely impaired in autism than in Asperger syndrome. The latest published research by Patricia Howlin in the UK suggests that the diagnostic categories of autism and Asperger syndrome are so blurred by both researchers and clinicians that regarding them as separate conditions may be resulting in more confusion in diagnosis, rather than providing any assistance. In mid-2002, Bruce Tonge from Monash University in Victoria stated in the Medical Journal of Australia that, "To avoid confusion, the term 'autistic spectrum disorders' should only be used as the collective term for a group of defined disorders".
In recent times, even Lorna Wing, the researcher responsible for bring the work of Hans Asperger to light in the English-speaking world in the early 1980s, has stated that she never intended for Asperger syndrome to be regarded as a separate condition to autism, and that it was only meant to be a guide to the variability that could be observed in people on the autism spectrum.
Dr Larry Cashion for A4