To make it simple what the difference is, people with AS have sensory issues, obsessions, like routines, dislike changes, have patterns in behavior, people with perosnality disorders do not. That's how I know I'm on the autism spectrum.
Apart from the sensory issues however, all those traits are also part of various personality disorders and personality traits.
Yeah, that's why I was asking. There's a close correlation in subjective behavior between AS traits and some personality disorders, esp. Schizoid (from what I have observed), but also others.
There's the sensory issues and autistic behaviour in childhood. You must have someone you can ask how you acted, what you did etc. as a kid. And photos? They can tell a lot.
Some of that, I just don't remember.
You didn't actually answer my question/statement. If you don't remember, why don't you ask someone who can? And go through childhood photos or videos if they exist, they can tell a lot about you.
PS: What counts are FACTS not "I think it was because...". If you're not sure, don't mention it - it's all too easy to re-interpret things and bend them to fit AS into the picture.
What are your childhood memories? Do you remember places, textures, sensory stuff or do you remember people, emotion, facts etc? And how did you appear to others? On photos, were you on your own? Are there photos of you stimming (you can't know without LOOKING at them), what is your expression like etc.
Those are the kinds of things you should be asking yourself (not answering to me, just think about them and find out more about those things).
If you're really that keen to know, ask your parents about your development. You don't have to mention AS, just ask.
A Photo my stepfather took of me and framed because "it's classic Sean" - me at a parade, looking off, not at the parade, lost in my own little world, with my right pinky stuck up my right nostril all the way to the second knuckle. Oblivious to where I was and how innapropriate picking my nose was.
Circa age 11 or 12.
Needless to say, the picture mortified me. Being told it was "classic Sean" made me feel even worse.
Bless... parents, eh?
My Dad used to have this ongoing "argument" with me as a kid, there is a photo of me of the night after I was baptised, screaming my head off. I always used to be adamant, when shown the photo, that "Dea Smiiiile" [Andrea is smiling] and used to get soooo upset when my Dad said otherwise.
Be cautious about taking family stories about you for "facts." They are often more subjective than your own sketchy memories.
Once the family decides you're "the odd one" that tends to become the thesis of all the stories, and the narrative is shaped to illustrate the oddness.
Good point - that's another reason why more neutral footage (photos, videos etc.) helps balance the recollections.
And, BATMAN55 -- that's a fascinating site. Thanks for the link.
Donna Williams gets credit there, she uses it in her online/Email consultancy (and I passed the link on to Batman55), to sort out personality traits/issues from autie/aspie issues etc.
It's a confusing layout at first but very insightful when you get your head round it 
I think what I have given you in recent posts is more-or-less objective data, because I find no reason to lie about these things.
Memories and recollections of your own emotions are always subjective - you have high social anxiety for example, so if you go and ask for something in a shop and afterwards assess how it went, you'll probably say it was horrible, your social skills were bad etc. etc.
But what matters in this case is how your skills *actually* are, not how you perceive them. And that is not something that you can sum up with your own feelings about your "performance" - describing how you did things wrong, and then hearing how the other people experienced your "performance" (what you say is wrong may not actually *be* wrong, it might just be your low self esteem talking) and seeing how it compares to your own version, that's when the real picture starts to build up.
You aren't qualified to judge my AS but I can always use your commentary, and anyone else's.
That doesn't mean we are under any obligation to agree with you or to always respond to your needs for attention, though.
Previously, you also said I should put more objective examples of things from my own childhood, instead of just "I am like that, and I probably have AS", well I am trying to be more objective.
I didn't say you should post los of them all the time.
I said that when you talk about your experiences that relate to any given subject, you rarely give concrete examples when it comes to "core symptoms" of AS.
PS: But that's the problem, your gathering of details is *not* pedantic, because what you are describing for the most part are *not* details.
Oops I meant lots not los!
Maybe you shouldn't have snipped the sentence following that quote, as it explains that I agree with you that my interpretation is a liability.
Erm.... maybe you might be right there... I hate it when that happens, because one thing (word, phrase) sticks out and the rest just becomes irrelevant. I try not to do this as it annoys me in others (I have seen it happen a lot in debates on autism advocacy, one use of the word "disability" and the rest of what someone says, even if they prais AS to high heavens, becomes tainted with prejudice against AS).
I said I can use your commentary on my statements, I didn't mean to imply what you said here. Even if it may seem so. The point of that quote was that I am always looking for commentary on these things, from you or anyone else. Unless someone is being a complete distasteful jerk, which is rarely the case on AFF.
OK that's great, it did just seem that way, because you seemed to "throw a strop" whenever people didn't leap straight into your questions and gave you just the answers you wanted.
My passive gathering of details, staying on here and reading about a lot of different things and comparing and contrasting myself and analyzing things to no end.. this is what I call either excessive or pedantic... NOT my descriptions, or writing itself
How can an activity be passive? Anyway I got what you meant, I thought you were talking about the details you had written
And you are being pedantic by consistently finding fault with words of mine that you don't think meet the proper dictionary definition, *or* the way you thought the words were defined.
Give me one example of this please, because I wish I was capable of this kind of meaning-translation!
It may just be me, but you seem "moodier" and more disagreeable than usual. I could be wrong, but usually I can pick up changes in somebody's tone and I have observed (I said *I* have observed, not anyone else) a touch of "flightiness" in your recent posts.
Erm, you got me sussed there, very perceptive of you!
PMT at its worst (well until today), and that often means the level of interaction I can deal with shrinks to zero. Hence my not responding to your stuff straight away. That does however not mean my opinions have changes, just my ability to respond to people who expect me to express those opinions.
PS: I don't think I was being flighty though, just a lot less verbal/expressive. I did express my need to be left alone and the fact that I was not able to respond straight away several times though, PMT or no PMT if someone still keeps badgering me after I've told them to back off or to be patient, I will always get snappy.
I was nervous so I grabbed the end of one of my pigtails and started whipping it in circles like a jump rope. I was horrified when I saw the show on tv later. There was a kid (me) standing there with a zombie expression, whipping her pigtail in a circular motion. Then i realized they did a week of clips and viewers were going to think that weird kid stood there whipping her hair for an entire week. Dang.
LOL, yeah you'd probably have no hair left!!!
Weird thing to ask of people though "Think Wednesday". How's that supposed to work? 
Trying makes me see a portion calendar when I close my eyes.
What's a portion calendar?
Should have typed "portion *of a* calendar"
Ah... yes makes sense. Yeah I have a bit "MI" (for "Mittwoch") jump out at me in my mind, funnily enough it's in red which is usually reserved for weekends!