Could I have some sort of ASD?

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I hope this is the right place to post this...

I have been previously diagnosed by psychiatrists as having ADD-I and social phobia.

But the social problems I have, I do not think they are anxiety per-se. I know what anxiety feels like - like standing on the edge of something tall. This is different. In social situations I either shut down or get this weird frustrated/angry/hostile feeling.

Another reason I do not think it is social phobia - I tried CBT for social phobia - I swear it made things worse.

I think I can read peoples emotions mostly, but I don't know how to act really and I can't make eye contact and the more people around the more withdrawn I get.

I get OCD-ish and anal about things. My bedroom is a mess, but I get very anxious if my GF moves anything. If we're going some where and we don't take a specific route, I get anxious and upset. It's weird because looking at it objectively, you think "who cares - you take some other route" but in the situation I get very anxious.

As far as focus and doing work, I can't. I've tried every approved ADD drug and none really work. My short term memory is awful. I math skills suck. (still manage to work as a software engineer, though. haha)

I've seen a couple of psychiatrists about the ADD and social phobia, but I was also seeing a psychologist recent (that I didn't like much) and he suggested I might have some sort of Asperger's. This shocked me because I hadn't even considered this and none of my other doctors brought it up.

Are there tests that can tell for sure if someone as ASD? If my psychiatrists couldn't recognize this, what type of doctor should I see for these tests?

Thank you very much.

First off, Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Even if you aren't on the spectrum, I think you'll find yourself welcomed here as an ally.

About tests, not really. If we look up DSM-IV, which we ought to do from time to time, it's pretty vague. It's not like there's an MRI that can show, gee, you're overutilizing these parts of your brain and underutilizing these other parts (would that make me less of a human being?), the answer is of course not, but there's nothing like that in any case.

As far as CBT (cognitive behavior therapy), I haven't tried that but have tried similar things. It's like I'm trying to left-brain social skills and the result has been clunky. I have had better luck right-braining social interactions and accepting imperfections.

If you psychologist suggested it....well is he qualified to diagnose ASDs? Look into that. Psychiatrists do not have to be the ones to make a diagnosis (I was diagnosed by a psychologist). Not all psychologists OR psychiatrists are qualified to diagnose ASDs though--you have to find one that is.

Online tests can only give you a score that COULD give you some sort of indication. None of them can provide you with a diagnosis (or a lack of one). Some people score above the average and are not really autistic; some score below the average and are autistic.

I felt the same way as you for quite awhile... I've always suspected that there was something there and when I was old enough to go myself, I was told Social anxiety/Phobia (which is what even my girlfriend still believes). So that's what I believed and let it go but then I started realizing that 80% of the time I wasn't anxious or nervous at all in most social situations... I just couldn't perform or understand what to do or say. How is that anxiety? So I looked into it and pretty much checked off almost all of the symptoms of aspergers. It's a hard diagnosis for alot of people because most of it's symptoms are the same as many other disorders... but it's really very different.