It was once suggested to me that I might have Avoidant Personality Disorder rather than AS, but while my aversion to many social situations could be seen as stemming from either condition, my reasons are not primarily those of Avoidant Personality Disorder. I avoid social situations not because I fear being rejected or looking foolish, but because I feel mentally overloaded and uncomfortable when social demands, or the demands of learning new skills, intrude into my mental "space" and try to compete with my train of thought. This discomfort could be aspie, ADD, or schizoid in origin (or, as I strongly suspect, a combination of all three), but I really don't think it's avoidant. Of course, if I have misrepresented any conditions here, I will welcome feedback from those more knowledgeable. This is just my best guess.[/b]
couldbecousin said:
I avoid social situations not because I fear being rejected or looking foolish, but because I feel mentally overloaded and uncomfortable when social demands, or the demands of learning new skills, intrude into my mental "space" and try to compete with my train of thought.
Whew. This describes me pretty well too. I was starting to get a little worried, reading for the first time about APD, because I see some of myself in its description.
However, one thing that really stuck out for me is that, with APD, the tendency to avoid social situations stems from an unpleasant or traumatic social experience. (having been rejected, etc.) When my first therapist was trying to trace back my agoraphobia to its point of origin, we couldn't find what set it off. The anxiety I live with just broke through one day, like it had been stuffed down too long, which it had. I believe that I've always been this way and just controlled and hid it well for years until it became too much. Agoraphobia (which seems rather like Avoidant Personality Disorder, I wonder if they'll end up being merged into one) didn't adequately explain my anxiety, and didn't address my obsessive nature or my feelings of being different from the other kids.
People with APD don't have the "special interest" symptom, do they? That would be one way to separate APD and AS. Batman, I know you and I both have lacked the knowledge of social cues and how to read expressions, and have tried to learn this from observing others. Would this be uniquely Aspie? It seems to me, and I may be wrong 'cause I'm very new to this, that those with social phobias stemming from bad social experiences would have this social knowledge that comes easily to NTs. They would not have the "oops, wrong planet" feeling because they, unlike us, are wired "normally".
Am I making sense? I want to think more about this...thank you for bringing this up, Batman.
<hugs>
Athie
Auties and Aspies:
1. STIM. Or did so noticeably when younger. Hand flapping, rocking, etc.
2. Love to watch rotating objects, like clothes dryers, chickens turning in a spit, etc.
3. Have unusual voices and speech mannerisms, if they do talk. A tendency towards echolalia, conspicuously different voice quality.
And other distinct physical signs and symptoms that clearly different autie-aspie from shyness, schizophrenia, etc.
I don't believe Aspies are truly shy. I think we avoid interacting with people because experience tells us that engaging most people most of the time is not likely to have a pleasant outcome. For us.
Batman said:
But Athlynne, you did have unpleasant social experiences.. am I right? Or at least, they were unpleasant to your mind?
Yes, I did...but this began just after the social anxiety began. The anxiety caused the bad social experiences, not the other way around.
Schizoid? Oh, hell. Let's see. Apparently those with schizoid disorder have few acitivities that give them pleasure. That doesn't work. I have a close relationship with my sister, and I'm not always cold. Hermit-like, yes.
gemtnt said:
Auties and Aspies:
1. STIM. Or did so noticeably when younger. Hand flapping, rocking, etc.
2. Love to watch rotating objects, like clothes dryers, chickens turning in a spit, etc.
3. Have unusual voices and speech mannerisms, if they do talk. A tendency towards echolalia, conspicuously different voice quality.
1. Yes, sometimes.
2. Big yes!
3. Echolalia, yes, a little, when stressed. My voice also tends to be flat, and stays around the same volume.
<hugs>
Athie
Confused, yes. Also, seeing conflict, and that's my cue to run.
<hugs>
Athie
Confused, yes. Also, seeing conflict, and that's my cue to run.
<hugs>
Athie
Awww, it will be all right, tis just a spirited debate. 
*my Orca hugs everyone with her fins*
If the boss states something really stupid, I would either just sit there and not react or maybe fidget and draw on a piece of paper. I wouldn't nod approvingly if it was idiotic and I wouldn't say it was stupid because I don't think it would be my place to do that.
Batman said:
I'm still a paranoid person. So I say more Schizotypal than Schizoid. For I have had tendencies for "magical thinking" in the past (some of them enough to be worrisome) and of course intense fascination with the Occult, unexplained phenomena, and so on.
We'll get along great, then.
<hugs>
Athie
who should go to bed, probably
Still nobody has said what NVLD means.
Batman said:
Do you have those healing magicks ready for me, yet?
It's been done. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of such a healing depends heavily on the positive atttitude of the person being healed, and it's hard to keep a positive attitude when you need healing. Still, it should make some difference.
<hugs>
Athie
Still nobody has said what NVLD means.
Non-Verbal Learning Disability (or Disorder)
Ah, thanks for that. I get confused with some of these abbreviations.
Batman, what about your art? I thought you were gifted in art. I also think the people who were educated in the old definition of autism need to update their knowledge to include the new information that is out there. Otherwise, how can they claim to be experts in diagnosing autism?
But I am doing just the same things and some people have told me I am gifted. That's why I say the same about you. Art doesn't have to just be about perspective and spatial representation, originality is very important.
Note that my "full-scale" IQ test when I was 15 landed an overall score of 99--6 points less than honestjohn's son.
I just can't win.
I note that my spatial deficits, with math deficits, would easily place me in the category of NVLD.  However, if you fit NVLD criteria... can you also fit AS criteria?
Or must it be one or the other?
Batman, one way or another you need to get yourself IQ tested again. Basing your whole self opinion on the result of a single test is arrant foolishness and is tragically limiting your life.
Batman55, some "experts" believe that NLD and AS commonly co-exist. There's a lot of similarities in the two diagnoses, and I think NLD is essentially another way of saying "person on the spectrum."