mild autism and HFA....same thing? | Autism PDD
The CARS test is a rating scale some clinician use to determine the severity of the ASD. It measures mild to severe ASD traits and then provides an average affected score. It doesn't address functioning in life skills etc or cognitive.
Remember you need to be very careful in what the "tests" identify. My son clearly has autism....no ifs ands or buts about it. We recently did the CARS on him and he came out as not having autism at all. Interesting huh!?!?
Not sure what code they would be referring to because the DSM IV (diagnostic and statistical manual volume 4) is the guide for diagnosis....and there is the main heading of Pervasive Developmental Disorders and then there are 5 subtypes listed : autism, aspergers, childhood disintegrative disorder, Rhetts disorder and PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified).Mild, Moderate, and Severe are all used as specifiers with a dx of autism,and just refers to how severely affected our kids are.
HFA is more of a "laypersons" terminology. That's all I know.
I think it depends and as others have said spectrum is spectrum. I think when kiddos are very young often professionals will say PDD-NOS as opposed to the "A" word. I think sometimes people also say "he is high functioning" it is a way of coping as it doesn't sound as bad as "oh yeah....he is autistic". More and more parents I talk with say the same thing - at least in this area of the country.Amanda (gtto) who is posts here has spoken some on this very topic. You
may see it if you search for "functioning" or something.
Tricia--I agree 100% with what you say! In my own family, someone says
time & time again, her son is "mild on the spectrum," "very high
functioning," & "most likely aspergers." I KNOW she is saying it to make
herself feel better (& I wish there was a way I could talk to her about it, tell
her to be open about things & not blame herself). What she doesn't
understand, is that person A with "autism" can *function* much better/
higher/whatever than person B w/ "PDD-NOS" or person C w/ "Aspergers."
The actual label, IMHO, has little to do with what someone's future looks
like.
Holly,
What is the code number?
When I asked our psych about Jacob's HFA dx and told her that I thought it wasn't an "official" dx, she told me it was and the code number that goes with it.I was wondering what makes a child get the HFA label? Is is that there symptoms are just milder or does it have something to do with the IQ? Do you think it makes a difference in the label? Maybe you get less therapies with that label? Is there a difference between mild autism and high function autism? I went to Mason's school yesterday for an appt with the nurse and while there I met a lady who's son has autism...but she kept referring to it as high functioning autism. I was just curious as to what that truly meant...do you actually get diagnosed with the label "high functioning autism?"
Thanks all.
All high functioning means is that they have an average to an above average IQ.
Her childs actual diagnosis is Autism. But we all know how it is with the spectrum...there really is no way to judge some of our children's IQ's...I mean...Look at Gtto. One of the most intellegent posters I've read but lots of people in society would consider her Low functioning if not able to see that she communicates so well.
About the question of whether you get diagnosed with it...Well Not in my son's case. She refered to him as High Functioning but it was not put in his initial diagnosis when he was labeled as Autistic.
Just another Label or should I say descriptor..to describe ones intellect inside the diagnosis...but still at best unreliable in my opinion.
Karrie
All labels are subjective and all children funtion at their own level. Norway Mom has linked the DSM IV specifications somewhere on here before.
I think that all of the HFA labels are more of a hopeful thing for the parents of the child than an actual clinical term. I may be wrong here, but the good Doctor that Mama Kat has met illustrated his position with regards to aspergers and autism in the wonderful post that she work so hard to give us.
There are days when My son just defies the diagnosis, and others where it fits him like a glove. Kids all grow at different rates, emotionally, physically, and mentally, so we just keep getting him evaluated every 4 months [a mandate from the state to keep services] and hope that the things that we are doing for Tyler are helping him become as comfortable being tyler as he can be.I am not aware that either HFA or mild autism are official labels. I believe
people use those terms when they want to say that the kid appears less
impaired to others, meaning they have good language and show more
interest/ability to interact. But if I could also quote Gtto "High functioning
autism means you are getting your weak areas ignored and low
functioning autism means you are getting your strength ignored"
The only official diagnosis there are, are autism, pdd-nos and AS. My son
has pdd-nos which some people might refer to as high functioning
autism. At school meetings his principal keeps saying "But he does not
have autism" , I think that is the only way she can wrap her mind around
the fact that he speaks and responds to language and does not have
obvious stims. But yes, it is still autism.
Thanks all for the help! I kind of got the impression that she was saying it more as a comfort for herself...but I wasn't sure if it was an actual label or what it really meant as far as services etc.
Thanks again!
Asd is asd the level shouldn't matter. We all develop at our own rates. We all should have a iep that fits our own needs to give us a fape. Aspergers is still asd also. No school professional should question a dx or suggest meds even they are not a Dr. The dsm to me isn't updated it looks at asd people as being low iq's. I think since more is known about asd that book needs updating. Some hfa kids get accomidations/504 cause they are to high iq. I know a Asperger's kids who will be in Honor's classes.HFA and mild autism are not official labels, though in the past, HFA was a term used synonomous with Asperger's.
Because the spectrum is so broad, and every child with an ASD is so different, everyone (parents, teachers, medical professionals) struggle with finding the right words to describe their child and the child's place on the spectrum. Many autistic adults are very offended by the terms high functioning and low functioning because they feel they are incredibly limiting and are applied very inconsistently. Also, many people outside of folks with direct autism experience don't really understand the diagnostic categories.
Personally, when I have described my son as "high functioning" I guess what I've been trying to say is that he has an ASD diagnosis, but can fit in with NT kids in a typical setting outside of the classroom with very little accomodation. For example, when I called the director of summer camp to talk about C prior to the start of camp, I described him as "on the autism spectrum, but on the milder end of the spectrum, and he should be able to fit in with a regular camp group without an aide, however he occasionally gets disregulated and I have some instructions for what to do for him in that situation..." If I had said "my son has a dx of PDD-NOS" I was afraid that they wouldn't really understand what that means.
I'm looking for the code number and of course can't find one on the internet. I will ask our psychiatrist instead and have him give me a code #.
I did find this---the "meaning" of HFA
High-functioning autism (HFA) is an informal term applied to individuals with autism, an IQ of 80 or above, and the ability to speak, read, and write.[1] HFA may simply refer to autistic people who have normal overall intelligence, i.e. are not cognitively challenged.
Autism and Asperger's
Currently, DSM-IV contains two distinct autistic spectrum diagnoses: Asperger syndrome and autistic disorder. The main difference between the definitions is that autistic disorder involves a significant speech delay and Asperger syndrome does not.[1] However, there is evidence that there is no significant correlation between delayed speech and the severity of the disorder.[2] Moreover, some people believe that language delay is not a sensible or meaningful enough way to differentiate a diagnosis,[3] even if it does divide the autistic spectrum in some way.
Well, I'm browsing through my handy DSM-IV-TR, (psych student here
)
There doesn't seem to be a code for "High functioning"
Autistic Disorder is 299.00
PDD-NOS and Asperger's have the same code (interesting..)299.80
There are no coded specifiers for functioning, although level of severity
can be noted.
On a full diagnostic assesment functioning is always noted in something
called the GAF score (global assesment of functioning) but, it would not
be part of the code.
Again, that's all I know.
When my dd got her PDDNOS dx the psychologist went through the areas with me and labeled them severe, moderate, mild or not present. I'm still waiting for the report, but that is how she went through the DSMIV with me present.I have used high functioning because people look at me like I'm crazy if I just say dd has autism. I usually have to go into a long drawn out discussion about how autism can be subtle. I don't know how it is everywhere else, but here most people only think of classic autism or Aspergers when they hear the word autism.
Mamakat - I couldn't find anything in DSM-IV-TR either...
ahhh, ha! I never knew they still used the HFA label. I knew I had the label cause of all the odd behvaior my parents said I had but also, to kinda cancel that out, I could be social, i could apply what I learned and I could function independently over time. I have never taken an IQ test, at least an offical one i suppose.I just thought, and i hear many different answeres to this, but basicly, the difference between someone labeled as ASD, and AS is the IQ difference. I feel, had I been re-evaluated in adult hood, my current childhood label would be changed to ASPIE.
This is an interesting thread!
Hi. Our dev paed told us that our son has high functioning autism because his IQ is either average or above average. Also probably because he wanted to lessen the blow or something. I did not know that this is not an official diagnosis until later and I do not use this term to make myself feel better, I use this to clarify the severity of his condition.
Another thing to consider is that high functioning autism is similar to Asperger's Syndrome. The reading list that we were provided with was the one containing books on AS and HFA. I am buying books on Autism though, I feel my son is not even close to AS by a long shot (after going through Attwood's guide to AS), no matter how high functioning.
The paed also wrote 'mild high functioning autism' on the referrel to the psychologist but he did write autism as the official dx on the form to claim for care/disibilty allowance.
Mary
I've been doing some research on the whole HFA thing. Here's a synopsis of what I've learned from various sources.
Asperger's didn't enter the DSM until version IV in 1994. Prior to that it wasn't an official diagnosis. Neither was HFA. However, medical professionals used the term HFA to indicate "autism without mental retardation." Since Aspergers kids tend to be above average IQ, most of them would have been considered HFA by this definition. Since back in the early 90's it was believed (we now know differntly) that over 70% of autistic kids were MR based on verbal IQ tests, most autistic disorder kids were not considered HFA. As a result of this, the terms HFA and Aspergers tended to be used interchangably. (Note, this wasn't a perfect correclation because not all autistic kids were thought to be MR, and not all autistic kids not MR were Aspies).
Anyway, once Asperger's became an official dx in 1994, the HFA term fell out of vogue and most medical professionals focused on using the official dx's of Autistic Disorder and Asperger's, though it was common to use mild-moderate-severe to provide additional clarification. HFA has never been an official dx per DSM (I looked in past versions as well), but some medicial professionals may still use the term to mean "autism without MR."
Here's my take for what it's worth. If another layperson says HFA, they are probably trying to say that their child is ASD but mildly affected. If a medical doctor tells you that your child is HFA, you should ask whether the official dx is autistic disorder or aspergers syndrome or pdd-nos, etc because HFA (presence of ASD, absence of MR) can be any one of these.
In my research, I also came across an interesting study. I found it because it mentions HFA on page 7. Thought others might find this interesting. http://www.wpic.pitt.edu/research/CeFAR/PDF/01-26-07.pdf
Thanks for all the great info everyone! I actually went back and looked at Mason's evaluation...there is a part that says diagnosis and there it says Axis I: 299.00 Autistic Disorder. Then there is a comment area after that where the doctor goes on to say that Mason's autism is presenting at moderate levels, and impairing his ability to learn. He then goes into recommendations.
So what you are saying Kristy clarifies a lot.
Thanks all for all your research and explanations. I am still new to this and I have seen HFA posted on here by kids' names, but that was the first time I heard anyone actually say it. I guess I was curious if it was an actual dx or just more of a reference.
[QUOTE=kristys]If another layperson says HFA, they are probably trying to say that their child is ASD but mildly affected. If a medical doctor tells you that your child is HFA, you should ask whether the official dx is autistic disorder or aspergers syndrome or pdd-nos, etc because HFA (presence of ASD, absence of MR) can be any one of these.
[/QUOTE]
You make a very good point. I am sure in our case the paed meant that DS has mild autism as DS fits the profile of ASD more than of AS. It would be interesting to know what term is used in the official diagnosis after we have seen the psychologist. I don't think it would be Asperger's as he had a language delay of more than one year although it might chnage to AS later at some point, not that it makes any difference to me. :)
Mary
I think its an official dx, but then I dont know much! I thought low, mod. or high functioning autism was based on how bad your child was affected not by IQ. Ive also heard recently and from Hayden dev. ped. that Aspbergers and High Functioning Autism are considered as the same thing by some professionals so who knows? Its all confusing if you ask me!Not that I'm particularly agreeable to the labels but I can see how clinicians especially those who provide programs would want to know what levels children are. But it looks like at most it provides a brief snapshot of the child's abilities when compared to other like children at that time; not that it can't change for better or worse as age expectations increase and the child matures.
Also with LFA and HFA there is no middle ground of average which seems odd. It's like having either very gifted NT children or nonfunctioning NT children but there's no average child.
I agree that to me HFA just means mildy affected taking everything into account and not only IQ.
Mary
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