Avoidant Personality Disorder Comorbidity?

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I got my feedback this week from my October psychological testing. This particular psychologist isn't experienced or knowledgeable of adult Aspies. In fact, I had to educate him on the existence of clinical tests for autism spectrum disorders in adults. He didn't have a problem with my autism spectrum diagnosis from my psychiatrist, but didn't want to confirm it without having a more complete childhood history. The testing that he did do was designed to root out personality disorders and did suggest avoidant personality disorder. After reading up on avoidant personality disorder, I don't see it as a differential diagnosis but as a comorbidity. Autism spectrum disorder seems to explain my early childhood characteristics, inability to read people, social miscommunication problems, etc. and fits my genetic background. However, avoidant personality disorder seems to better explain my fear of social relationships that has grown with the succession of life experiences. It is my social anxiety and depression that my cognitive behavioral therapist is largely targeting.According to this article, there is no problem with Avoidant Personality Disorder being a comorbid that develops out of the strained social interactions of persons on the spectrum:

4.3.1. Avoidant PD
Criteria for avoidant PD do not necessarily entail the core
features for PDD/ASD (eg, impairment in social communication
and interaction and restricted repertoire of activity).
When markedly avoidant behavior is present in individuals
with PDD/ASD, it could rather be seen as a consequence of
the PDD/ASD. For some individuals with AS, their disability
in interpreting social cues leads to a major concern about
what impression they make on others and even a disabling
fear for social situations, thus increasing the risk for avoidant
behavior. Moreover, elevated sensitivity to stressful environments
because of visual and auditory perceptual difficulties
may well contribute to avoidant behavior. Nevertheless,
avoidant PD can clearly exist without the core difficulties of
a PDD/ASD.

If the Avoidant Personality Disorder diagnosis is correct, it would make me a person mwith autism spectrum disorder secondary to hemifacial microsomia or Goldenhar Syndrome with comorbids of clinical depression and Avoidant Personality Disorder. Whew! Quite a load of baggage, but I am indeed a mess! I know from another thread that Red Robin has been diagnosed with Avoidant Personality Disorder. Anyone else or any other views?

The psychologist is the one who was originally contacted by my employer to do "fitness for duty" testing. My library director expressed a desire to have a "doctor of her own choice". Even though the City pressed forward with discharging me before the "fitness for duty" testing, my lawyer wanted me to keep my appointments and go through the testing. We may submit this psycholgist's info to the City to bolster my case for disability retirement. While the City discharged me for supposedly not being able to continue in my professional position and not having an accommodation available (but on paper discharged me for an exaggerated disciplinary offense to cover their asses with ADA), they are now saying that my autism spectrum disorder diagnosis doesn't mean I can't work, so I'm not entitled to disability retirement. In other words, they want it both ways. So my lawyer and I will probably submit this doctor's results and the comments of my cognitive behavioral psychologist (if I can get them) in another stab at the disbility retirement. This psychologist neither confirmed nor denied my autism spectrum diagnosis (and I have two psychologists apart from my psychiatrist who supplied my official ASD diagnosis who believe I have ASD), so I don't think his input would hurt me in my present action or a future EEOC complaint, but might actually help in the disability action since he's added an additional comorbidity and was chosen not by myself but by my library director who is on that medical disability board. To maintain that someone must be disabled from working at all contradicts the City's policy allowing disability retirement recipients to work as long as their total income doesn't exceed the income that they received with the City. In my opinion, it should be enough to maintain that my social disabilities imperil me from ever working at the level they themselves have claimed I cannot.

It's confusing I know, but that's the situation in which I find myself. I'm hoping that I can get the disability retirement plus a new less stressful position and move on. However, if the disability retirement is denied and my disharge appeal doesn't bring reinstatement, I figure the City's antics of discrimination agains me for being on the spectrum but not recognize it for disbility purposes may come back to bite them in the butt in an EEOC action.

Ahhh... I see. What a mishigas! ... you + lawyers + doctors + the government! Good luck!

Sorry, LibLady. I suppose I should clarify, and apologize, for the fact that my AvPD was self diagnosed after taken several tests and quizzes on the internet and speaking to a psychiatrist about the matter. She never said I was AvPD but she never denied it, either. She ended up diagnosing me with depression and anxiety. The reason I ran with AvPD as a comorbid is because the cause of AvPD, according to Psychology Today, the US National Library of Medicine, and elsewhere, is unknown and not dependent on, say, ASD as a factor.

"When markedly avoidant behavior is present in individuals
with PDD/ASD, it could rather be seen as a consequence of
the PDD/ASD."

That is an interesting statement to me. The reason I've gravitated towards a comorbid is because my level of avoidance is not generally seen within the aspie community. There are aspie meetup groups all over where members go regularly and I just can't go.

I've not heard other aspies complain that they're "less that" their fellow man, and not worthy to be in the same space as them, but I do.

Do aspies generally have low self esteem and mistrust of others? Some might. I definitely do.

Are aspies hypersensitive to rejection and criticism? I'm not sure but I definitely am.

If my AvPD is really nothing more than the consequence of ASD, I can be fine with that explanation. I've never heard that reasoning until now, however, as it was never part of the criteria.

Here is a brief article which talks about someone with autism who has a comorbid of AvPD.

http://www.donnawilliams.net/eavsavoidantpersona.0.html

I also just read some of the paper you've alluded to, Personality disorders and autism spectrum disorders: what are the connections? by Tove Lugnegårda,b,⁎, Maria Unenge Hallerbäckb,c, Christopher Gillbergb

By their own admission, in their 54-person study group, 13%; 3 women and 4 men met criteria for avoidant PD. Are they then saying their AvPD was wrongly diagnosed and their behavior is really a consequence of ASD?

Oh, goodness. I'd say having ASD, with all the times you get kicked and called mean, nasty, hateful, and worse for honest mistakes, would be enough to GIVE you avoidant personality disorder.

People would, in fact, probably praise you for developing avoidant personality disorder, because it would help to hide the ASDl

What a shame. I have a feeling that AvPD sucks a lot more than autism.

Hope that life works out for that to get better for you. 'Cause it sounds like a massive pain in the fanny.

No, RedRobin, they are not saying that you can't have AvPD or ASD independently. However, as BuyerBeware observes, our social miscommunication problems and odd traits as Aspies cause us to be bullied and mocked as children. It doesn't get better as an adult. NT adults start attributing every sort of horrible trait they can think of to explain our social miscues: racism; deception; meanness; insensitivity. Of course, the truth is that all this dirt that these sort of NTs heap on us actually reflects their own character, because they are projecting how their own minds work. In the process, self=esteem gets lower and lower as one absorbs all this as if it is somehow true. We also tend to get horrible burned and misunderstood in our personal relationships. When you fear people, you isolate yourself more, which causes people to think you are even odder and therefore somehow an even worse person. My library director even made remarks about seeing me out alone at lunch as if it was something evil rather than someone who was independent. It doesn't help that as a person with hemifacial microsomia I have physical defects. People underestimate both intellect and character of persons who lack symmetrical features. It becomes a vicious cycle.

people have said so...but i believe it is merely a method of coping with autism...though i'm not excusing my avoidance.