Michaela - thanks so much for your insight and honesty, that really gave me a lot to think about as I try to figure out whether there is a difference between aspergers and HFA and which I think my DD has. It doesn't seem to be distinguished here in Australia. And when I have read about ways of teasing out the two it's been more about issues like aspergers may be more verbal but more non-vervally challenged, HFA may be more verbally challenged but more non-verbally able/gifted... And my DD is certainly more in the verbally weak/non-verbal strength camp, and like Epoh's DS she spoke early and "well" so I had no idea she needed speech therapy until now, years later as I have come to understand the difference between speech and language development and that she did indeed have a significant language development issue (it took me many months to teach her the correct use of pronouns, she would regularly bitterly argue for the exact opposite of what she wanted and then have a meltdown when she got what she argued for, numerous other issues)...
