not talking

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Hi all.

I've been diagnosed with PDD-NOS and have been trying to figure out how to communicate the reason I don't talk.

In theory, I can talk fine and at times I talk well. Just most of the time I don't talk at all. It isn't that I refuse to talk. The thought to talk never crosses my mind. When asked questions I typically can answer them fine. Sometimes when I get overwhelmed I spaz out and my head becomes completely blank while trying to answer but I'm talking about what to call my normal tendency to not talk. Previously I've called it Selective Mutism but I've been told by a professional (one that I don't really trust though...) that the term doesn't fit because I can talk to them fine. Sometimes I say that I'm effectively mute. Do you think using nonverbal fits?

Thanks.

I have a VERY similar issue and it has been deemed a conversion disorder. Basically, when I experience stress or anxiety, instead of just sending out "I'm stressed" signals, my brain turns off my speech.

People have always labeled me as shy, and for a long time I believed it, until I realized the above. I do have difficulty replying when people ask me questions though, depending on the question. Often I just reply with a stock phrase or something vaguely related to the subject, because I can't think fast enough to reply properly. I've always thought of it as a problem with translating thoughts to speech. Until recently, I always thought everyone had to translate. I don't think that selective mutism applies for me, because it has nothing to do with anxiety. I can be completely at ease and still have the problem. I'm not sure what you would actually label it though.

I have that problem since I was young. I hardly speak, still don't speak much (I'm close to 40).
When I had to answer a question in class, it would take too long. Sometimes the teacher suggested I had not studied the material. Some teachers understood better that I have trouble reproducing information. I work better with recognizing information, not reproducing it at cue. When I talk I prefer short answers. Mostly I prefer to talk to some specific people, because they like to talk total nonsense, so I don't need to worry about stupid things (I seem to say stupid things quite often).
Some days I am in a "talkative mood", some other days I can hardly speak. I also have days that speaking is difficult, like my mouth is frozen.
Also in my case people would say that I am shy, later on it would be called depression, social phobia and generalised anxiety. Pretty useless labels though...

With me, silence is preferable to one of my usual crappy non-rehearsed answers.
I wish there were a way to telepathically convey ideas without having to frame them in words.