Could I just have very severe NVLD + avoidance, not ASD?

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Diagnosed with PDD-NOS with a cognitive profile most similar to Asperger Syndrome, but a few things don't seem to fit. For one thing, my problems seem to be more visual than fundamental. For example, everyone who knows me says I am NT over the phone. I also have a normal-great ability to infer nonliteral use of language, particularly in writing & i get more jokes than most with ASD.

I also think I have relatively good social awareness but relatively poor social performance and worse anxiety even than some aspies. I am very shy, avoidant, and schizoid. My physician diagnosed me with ASD due to my severe social problems, cognitive profile, and a lifetime of avoidant tendencies.

When I was diagnosed with PDD-NOS, it's very hard to overstate the extent of my NVLD. It was very, very bad. I even bombed the block test, which my physician said most people with AS/ASD ace but got over the 90th percentile on the "comprehension" test, which is supposed to pose difficulties for aspies due to its reliance on nuance and nonliteral meanings of words. I think most aspies are better than me at many cognitive tasks. I am just "slow" and have super slow speech and delayed reactions to anything visual. (but not audio). This has not been the case with most aspies I have met. I also don't have a huge issue with being in a loud bar (some NT's have more trouble).

I have never had stereotyped behavior (rocking, hand flapping, etc.). I have/have had some intense interests, but my physician said they were not intense enough to make me AS.

I also suffered a severe concussion at age 2 and severe allergies to everything starting shortly afterwards. Could I just have right brain damage that makes me like ASD but actually not?

i have nld and it sounds plausable, but the prob. is aspergers is a syndrome and is a very wide discription, you don't have to have all symptoms. in fact some in the field think that nld is just mild aspergers. only a proper test can determine if this is the case?

What kind of test? My neuropsychiatrist diagnosed me with NVLD and PDD-NOS (because I did not fit the critieria for AS, with a documented history of speech delay but some current symptoms less severe).

How would you be able to determine if you just have NVLD, and nothing else, if this somehow causes a schizoid personality (which I have)?

Not everyone has all of the symptoms, I don't, but I still have AS.

I don't have intense special interest, the only thing I have that is similar to a special interest is I like learning about diseases and scientific discoveries, but I don't spend all my time on it, nor does it bother me if I can't learn anything for extended periods of time. It is just a curiosity that I entertain from time to time.

I don't have sensory overload, or hypersensitivity like aspies have. I have no issues with loud places like most aspies do. I also don't stim like most aspies do, the closes thing I do to typical stiming behavior is when I sit down for extended periods my right leg becomes restless and so I move it up and down. I also don't have executive function problems like most aspies do, I have taken test that measure executive function, I score high on them, higher than even most NTs do.

I am not sure what a comprehension test is, but if it reading comprehension, mine has always been very high. I always scored in the 90+ percentile in reading comprehension on standardize test.

Issues that I do have though are I have significant social performance issues as well as avoidance and anxiety around other people. I also am slightly hypo-sensitive to some senses such as smell, and hearing. Not all aspies have all of the symptoms, but it doesn't mean we aren't aspies.

Is it possible to be diagnosed with NVLD (especially a severe one) and not independently meet the diagnosis for PDD-NOS?

Yes, it is possible to have NVLD and not be on the spectrum. While it is true that many people with Aspergers (and possibly PDD-NOS? I only know of the study done with Aspies though) do have NVLD, not all do (about 80%--this is only people with Aspergers, classic autistics with NVLD is far lower, and I am not sure where PDD-NOS fits in). When looking at it the other way around, there are NVLDs that are on the spectrum, and some that are not as well (despite a common misunderstanding, NVLD is NOT another term for AS). What you described SOUNDS LIKE NVLD, but I am not an expert, and the two do have many similarities.