they were basically the same. the only real distinction in the actual diagnostic criteria was about speech delay. if you took longer than usual to speak as a kid, it had to be autism, but if you spoke at a usual age, then flip a coin i guess. it was found that which diagnosis you might get would depend mostly on the doctor’s personal preferences, or outside social factors, like which diagnosis wouls get better access to support under local laws, rather than any objective metric.
they were basically the same. the only real distinction in the actual diagnostic criteria was about speech delay. if you took longer than usual to speak as a kid, it had to be autism, but if you spoke at a usual age, then flip a coin i guess. it was found that which diagnosis you might get would depend mostly on the doctor’s personal preferences, or outside social factors, like which diagnosis wouls get better access to support under local laws, rather than any objective metric.