Technically, they really shouldn't be changing an Autism diagnosis to Asperger's unless the Autism diagnosis was wrong to begin with! These are differentiated by childhood traits; for example, if someone has a speech delay, and learns to speak, they still have the symptom of "delayed language acquisition" and are still considered to have Autistic Disorder, not Asperger's. Lots of psychologists aren't happy with this state of affairs, and I don't blame them. There aren't very good labels for anything on the autism spectrum.

That's why my own diagnosis is so much up in the air. I actually fit the description for both Autistic Disorder and Asperger's Disorder, simply because it took me longer to learn to take care of myself than it takes most people (most people, for example, learn to take regular showers before age 18 and learn to clean a room before age 14), and because I have a large enough variety of autistic traits to fit into both "boxes". By the exclusion criteria, technically the Autistic Disorder diagnosis takes precedence. But today, having learned to take care of myself (though I cannot work yet) I am indistinguishable from people diagnosed as Asperger's.

I'm not unusual; many people with Asperger's are technically also diagnosable as Autistic Disorder (both are types of autism; Autistic Disorder is the regular sort and Asperger's is the sort without a speech delay or self-help delay). I hope they solve this problem in the next DSM edition, but I don't hold out much hope for it. The autism spectrum is so very broad, and the people in it don't fall into neat little groups. PDD-NOS (that is, atypical autism) at this point makes up a really huge part of all PDD diagnoses; PDD-NOS is a catch-all for a sort of autism that doesn't fit into any other definition.

"High functioning" is also a really fuzzy label. Some will use it for anyone who can speak and do basic self-care (which makes "low functioning" a very small group composed mostly of kids). Others will say it is a matter of intelligence (though some highly intelligent autistic people still need personal aides). Yet others will say it requires complete independence (a job and a place of your own). I think we should just forget about functioning labels. Yes, I know, I like concrete language; but the functioning-label thing isn't just fuzzy; it's an invitation to stereotype people: If you're "low functioning", you're a write-off who just needs to be "managed" but if you're "high-functioning" you're lazy and need to try harder to be "normal"...

I suppose, technically, my case, and the cases of the kids people are mentioning in this thread, might be best described as PDD-NOS. Maybe that's the best thing, since autistic people are so diverse that anyone educating them or counseling them is going to have to look at it on a case by case basis anyway.