I still don't understand completely...

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What the difference is between Autism and Social Anxiety. I know Autism has to do something with your brain and the way it functions but both Autism and Social Anxiety are a lot like. Except I don't think that Social Anxiety has too do with too much of the brain like Autism. Also I mean with both you can still be really shy or nervous or have anxiety or not knowing what to say when you talk or is Social Anxiety more just like you do know what to say but you're feeling too much anxiety to speak? And Autism is like you know what to say but its too hard too express or say what you wanna say? but then again Social Anxiety can be that way too? or maybe Autism is different because you really just don't know what to say at all and maybe people with Social Anxiety do know what to say and that its because they are feeling too much anxiety? but really both problems can cause anxiety and unsureness of what to say. So what I really want to know is if someone could explain the difference like in which ways. How are these problems so different and in which ways?

Autism is when you really suck at social stuff.

Social anxiety is when the social stuff makes you anxious.

autism is a much wider range of symptoms. social anxiety and autism are often comorbid

My understanding is that a person on the autism spectrum is wired differently neurologically and is not able to understand body language like a neurotypical person. Also persons on the autism spectrum have varying levels of eye contact and this can make it difficult to have good nonverbal communication. As a result a neurotypical will perceive someone with autism or ASD as different or odd and perhaps reject them socially. This then leads to increased social anxiety because the person with an ASD or other autistic disorder may feel he or she does not know what to do in a social situation and also may feel rejected socially.

Autism and social anxiety are essentially two different, unrelated disorders. The former is neurological and the latter is psychological. People with autism are born with it, it is an inherent genetic miswiring of the brain which affects mirror neurons -- neurons responsible for recognising facial expressions and enabling theory of mind responses (basically empathy) -- which is what causes the social difficulty. Autism also affects the thalamus which is responsible for interpreting incoming sensory information (touch, taste, sound, etc) which is why so many autistics have difficulty with sensory over- or under- stimulation. Another part of the brain affected by autistic miswiring is the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for emotional expression, which is why some autistics startle easily, or have meltdowns and difficulty controlling their emotional responses.

Social anxiety is nothing like this: you are not born with it, it's developed by watching others interact in the environment, and by your own experiences with other people. If you don't remember developing it, or it feels like you always had it, chances are you developed social anxiety by watching your parents or peers interact poorly with one another when you were very young, or if you had repeated negative experiences interacting with your peers, or if your natural separation anxiety around the age of six months to toddlerhood went poorly treated (ie your fears were ignored and you got no reassurance that you and your parents would be reunited). Social anxiety is a treatable condition that can be cured with cognitive behavioural therapy and gradual exposure, whereas autism is a lifelong condition that as of yet has no cure or treatment.

In short, the two disorders are completely unrelated, although in some cases, the negatively received attempts at socialising by someone with autism can lead to that person developing social anxiety as well.