How to distinguish between several possibilities...(SA/AS)

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right now i really cant tell if it would be AS thats causing social anxiety disorder... or maybe in fact it's something like ADD? how can i tell if i have social anxiety because of AS, or maybe just think i have AS because im so nervous around people?

(C) restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities, as manifested by at least two of the following:

1. encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus
2. apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals
3. stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)
4. persistent preoccupation with parts of objects

(B) qualitative impairments in communication as manifested by at least one of the following:

1. delay in, or total lack of, the development of spoken language (not accompanied by an attempt to compensate through alternative modes of communication such as gesture or mime)
2. in individuals with adequate speech, marked impairment in the ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others
3. stereotyped and repetitive use of language or idiosyncratic language
4. lack of varied, spontaneous make-believe play or social imitative play appropriate to developmental level

It is difficult to tell the difference. The differential diagnosis between the two tends to focus not on the social aspects--which can be near identical and difficult to tell apart--but on the other aspects of autism, which won't be there if you only have social anxiety disorder by itself.

This list is the big difference between social anxiety and Asperger's:

So here we see somebody who has special interests (#1), is very attached to routines (#2), stims (#3), and has an overwhelming focus on details instead of big picture (#4). You wouldn't expect any of these traits in someone with just social anxiety disorder.

This list is from the Autism description. These aren't in the Asperger's list, but an Aspie can have them if they're an Aspie with odd speech (falling just short of Autistic Disorder diagnostic category). If you see these in someone with social anxiety, an ASD is very likely.

#1: Speech delay or being non-verbal
#2: inability to keep up your end of a conversation, or just inability to get what a conversation is in the first place
#3: Echolalia, functional or not; pre-recorded speech; pronoun reversal; making up your own words (neologisms); playing with words by repeating them over and over; using words for the way they sound instead of what they mean
#4: As a kid, played mostly by enjoying the sensory aspects of the objects you played with--ex., lining up, making patterns, letting the light reflect from them, spinning them, etc.--and didn't do make-believe play.

The reason I'm including the Autism criteria is that they are a good way to tell apart someone who is AS/Autism from someone who has social phobia + giftedness. A gifted child can have pedantic speech and special interests without being autistic.