Studies on Asperger Syndrome (ASP) and autism (AUT) are synthesized and reviewed in terms of the (a) historical perspective, (b) clinical and diagnostic criteria, and (c) empirical data. The results of the synthesis suggest that these two groups of children differ in cognitive and adaptive behavior functioning and, as such, do not fall on the same autistic continuum. A meta-analysis procedure compares children and adolescents with ASP to study participants with AUT on various cognitive measures and using various adaptive behavior scales. The mean effect size for the category of cognitive functioning was + 0.98 in favor of ASP, whereas for adaptive behavior functioning it was + 0.86—again in favor of ASP. Overall, the results of the meta-analysis suggest that children and adolescents with ASP perform better than those with AUT on intelligence and cognitive measures as well as measures of adaptive behavior functioning. The results, therefore, suggest that ASP can be viewed as a distinct diagnostic category and can be separated from children with AUT.
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