I may not have Asperger's

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I've been reflecting on things, and my recent diagnosis of Cognitive Disorder NOS, ruling out AS.
I realize that we all start out with no social skills. People pick them up from childhood onwards. However, people on the spectrum aren't able to gain knowledge implicitly. They learn explicitly.
But I seem to have still picked things up at a faster rate than most aspies. My rate is still slower than most NTs, it seems. It seems somewhere in between aspies and NTs.
If I have a cognitive impairment, it would make sense that I might be a somewhat slow learner. I pick up songs on my bass guitar quickly, and I'm good at drawing and navigating(spatial). I've also always been excellent with reading. I learned my alphabet before I could even sing it out loud. I had a book of ABC's, and I would point to the letters.
My social skills have improved at a greater rate than most aspies, however, I still have social anxiety. I still don't know what to say much. Often, I'll put on an ambiguous facial expression, or semi-joke that I simply don't know how I'm supposed to respond(believe it or not, that often gets an approving chuckle from whomever I'm speaking to).
I also have many sensory issues, but is it possible that they may be related to something else? That my learning disorder versus my IQ might have caused anxiety, not to mention that how I felt at home during my childhood, may have also caused me problems. I couldn't handle the fast-paced "hurry, hurry, hurry!" environment of weekday mornings at my house. Getting up, doing all the things I had to do, crammed into so little time, that was very stressful.
I'm not really sure what to think of all this.

I, too, seem to have a quite mild form of AS, and I've even been told by some of my friends that I seem way too high-functioning to be an Aspie. What I've realized over the years (it's been 9 years since I was originally diagnosed...gosh that seems like a long time) is that psychology is an extremely inexact science, and any psychological diagnosis could be wrong, since the diagnoses are based on problematic emotions, and emotions themselves are hard for anyone (including NTs) to accurately describe and classify. So I just take my diagnoses with a grain of salt, and I try my hardest not to let them define me, even though that can be quite difficult in our label-obsessed society. Of course, it also helps that my parents share the same slightly-skeptical view of psychology that I do, and they've actually encouraged me to not identify myself as "an Aspie" or as being "socially anxious" or "depressed." I think that everyone should just identify themselves by their first, middle, and last name. Anything else (such as diagnoses, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality, etc.) doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things.

You're still welcome, here.

A nice thing to say, CR

And I found that interesting "too high-functioning to be an Aspie"...

Where would the crossover-point be? Would it be related to a person's IQ, for example? I understand my HFA/Asperger's to be exactly that... a high-functioning type of autism.

Fact is, I've hit most of the usual milestones in life. I've lived alone, and plan to get my own place again. I graduated college, I have a driver's license and a car, I've been in relationships, I have friends, and I have a job.
I'd like to continue posting here and try to help people unravel the mysteries of socializing. I'm able to break down the tricks in writing to the best of my abilities.
What exactly would my sensory issues be called, though?

That doesn't mean anything. They cannot see inside your brain or know how you managed to progess so well. It is not so much what shows on the outside as what is happening inside.

I know of several aspies including myself who manage very well now we are older and you wouldn't guess that we have aspergers unless we were in an extreme situation. Two of us were described as over-compensated, that means, we worked very, very hard to seem normal, unfortunately it was at great cost to us on the inside.

Sensory issues aren't limited to autism, they're just common in autism. You can have sensory integration disorder without being autistic. People that are gifted often have sensory issues, so I would imagine it can crossover to any neurological difference.

Besides that the line between autistic and NT is rather vague, and there probably isn't a definite line because there will always be people in between. The only way we can really sort is by diagnosing labels-- if you don't fit the criteria for autism you might still fit in here, and are probably just in that in-between place (normally you'd get PDD-NOS, not cognitive-NOS though..)

I wonder if I should consider myself an NT then. I don't feel like one in that I do live a very introverted life. They should have an "other" option in that category.
I also have very intense special interests: music(theory and classic rock), and video games(Japanese RPGs). I relate to aspies in many ways. I also get confused by people explaining things to me. I understand things much better when they're written down. My coordination is also not very good. I can't work in kitchens. I've tried.

Kaleido, after years of practicing and thinking about "what you're doing" in these settings, did you or do you find that things become more natural on the inside for you? I.e., less thinking and less anxiety to where you're riding a bike without the training wheels?
For myself, it somewhat burned itself in there, so to speak, but under certain conditions( fatigue) you can find yourself confused and people sense that there is something wrong with you and can give you feedback, (so you know it isn't your imagination).

I'm curious due to my age(45) as there are older ones here who "seem" to fall into an almost natural category.

It depends. I am so used to being careful that I make few mistakes but I still do make them in the things I say, now this is often unnoticed when I am with people that have known me all of my life, but where people don't know me that well, it does still cause embarrassment.

So no, it does not get easier, you just get to know more of the automatic and polite responses and the more you mix, the more confident you feel that you can give the right one. I daren't not socialise for too many months, even though I don't really miss people that much, because the confidence goes and the skills start slipping.

I don't actually have that much anxiety about socialising because I love people and I care about them in some kind of way, however, I prefer situations that have a point to them rather than merely getting together to party.