How Do Social Irregularities Differ In People With Asperger Syndrome As Compared To People With Autistic Disorder?

Dr. Bauman answers the question: 'Social Differences In Autism Versus AS?'

ByABC News
October 15, 2008, 11:21 AM

Oct. 23, 2008 -- Question: How do social irregularities differ in people with Asperger syndrome as compared to people with autistic disorder?

Answer: Individuals with autism, as well as individuals with Asperger's syndrome have difficulties with social interaction. It's the nature of the autism spectrum disorders to have social impairments at one level or another.

The high functioning autistic person or anyone on the autism spectrum as opposed to Asperger's frequently has more difficulty with language than does the Asperger's person. Although the Asperger's folks also have difficulty with what's called pragmatic language, which is conversational speech or social language. So there's a qualitatively different -- qualitative difference between the two.