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Although symptoms formerly associated with Asperger's Syndrome are part of the autism spectrum, the symptoms are often milder than those of some forms of autism. More severe forms of autism are often diagnosed in the first two years of a child’s life, but symptoms formerly associated with Asperger's Syndrome are usually diagnosed at a later age. A major reason for that is while children with AS may have moderate delays in the speech development, most AS children communicate by age three.