I Can No Longer Support the Claim that I am Autistic

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After reading carefully back through the diagnostic criteria for Asperger's Syndrome, as well as Social Anxiety Disorder and Avoidant Personality Disorder, I believe I actually fit the bill for those two disorders much better than I do for Asperger's, even in spite of my behavior as a child (which really could have been considered non-autistic behavior just as well as autistic behavior, technically - e.g. self-stimulation, avoiding eye-contact, socially inappropriate behaviors in the classroom, etc.*). I really think my therapist may be right in saying that I'm not autistic, but merely very anxious and depressed.

*this one can be explained by not initially understanding that the behaviors were inappropriate, as anyone would, and also just being obsessive compulsive about my classmates mispronouncing words while reading aloud, and OCD =/= ASD, technically speaking.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Here are a few autistic traits which cannot be explained by AvPD or SAD alone.

1. Sensitivity to bright lights, loud sounds.
2. Didn't play with toys in the traditional way.
3. Is very organized.
4. Exhibits black and white thinking. "This or that - no grey areas."
5. Has to follow certain routines.
6. Has obsessive interests so narrow that other people just don't get it.
7. Unusual eating and sleeping habits.
8. Prefers being alone. Wouldn't waste their time going to an office party or speaking in front of a group.
9. Notorious for making lists.
10. Doesn't like to be hugged.
11. Can make friends, just not keep them.
12. Blunt to the point it comes across as being heartless.
13. Has a collection of things very few people would care about.
14. Sees patterns everywhere.
15. Eschews social gatherings, like picnics and parades.
16. Guaranteed to say the wrong things if caught in a social gathering.

That, along with certain touches, tastes, and smells, sounds like the hallmark of autism, something I pretty much completely lack.

Seriously? I mean, I know psychologists actually use this criterion, for some reason, but is that really necessary to diagnose someone "autistic?" Because they don't play with toys a certain way? Pfft, c'mon.

Sounds like it could just as easily be OCD.

Could also be Borderline Personality Disorder, or so I've heard.

OCD

Definitely another hallmark criterion of autism, although my interests were never that narrow nor obsessive

What, like chocolate hot dogs and insomnia? Lol, I'm not like that - I eat pretty normally (except for Lima beans and maple syrup occasionally, i.e. probably once every few years/special occasion) and I sleep 8-10 hours every day pretty normally.

But is that necessarily exclusive to autism?

Again, exclusive to autism?

I could understand if it's because of the aforementioned sensory issues.

Sorry, sounds more like one of the criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder to me - autistic people generally have a hard time even making friends in the first place.

I am actually quite tactful about certain conversations.

Like toenail clippings? I used to when I was a kid, but that was very short lived, and there's been nothing else like it.

Yes, but only because I have an above-average I.Q. and just notice these things naturally.

Look up Avoidant Personality Disorder again.

A bit of a tricky one. It comes down to the reason. Why do they say the wrong things? Is it because they don't know what to say right (autism), or they're so nervous and anxious that they slip up, like a pianist who hasn't rehearsed enough for a performance and has dreadful stage fright but knows their entire piece note-for-note (AvPD/SAD)? Something to think about.

Re: didn't play with toys the traditional way.

This IS an important criteria for diagnosticians to notice. To wit:

You have a roomful of boys and give them all a toy helicopter to play with. The NT kids would make whirring sounds and run around the room with their toys held high, simulating perhaps a military excursion in Afghanistan.

The autistic kid will be sitting quietly in a corner, trying to figure out how his whirly-bird works, what air-lift mechanisms would come into play, perhaps also thinking about drag coefficients and other phenomena that makes it fly.

You have a roomful of kids and give them lettered blocks to play with. The NT kids will spell words with their blocks.

The aspie kid would line them up in neat columns or stack them as if piling up chunks of wood for a rainy day.

Here's the thing - all this is related to the Solitary Forager Hypothesis. While "normal" cavemen were hunting and being part of their social group, the solitary forager would be out there assessing the forest, always on the lookout for his safety, gathering and compartmentalizing wood and foodstuffs for the upcoming winter season.

Man that last one with the blocks describes me as a kid perfectly.

I want to add that a child with speech delay, motor delay and doesn't respond to their name to seek their parents gaze as a baby/toddler is a strong sign of autism. also if a baby doesn't play "peek-a-boo" that can be a sign also as it is a very social and 1 on 1 game with a parent/relative.

i had old video footage of my as a 2/3 year old and my uncle was trying to get my attention and I wouldn't take any notice of him. He he'd call my name and tried showing me a ball then would roll it a long the floor. In the video you can clearly see I'm oblivious to the person and I just went straight for the ball and examined it. This happened again with a toy dog that would bark and do flips. He'd show me the toy and I would be completely focused on the toy and try to move its parts on my own while not responding to anyone saying my name. There's also a thing with repetitive play as well which I did a lot. I would play with my toys the exact same way over and over again and in a routine like fashion.

I was quite interested in anything that could fly.