Schizophrenia and AS.

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I have schizophrenia and AS. I am just wondering, can my AS affect my schizophrenia and/or vice versa? I ask this because I find that because I can be extremely logical (due to my AS style of thinking), I am more resistant to delusional thinking than I would be without AS. Although that doesn't mean I don't get delusional; when I am stressed or not on a high enough antipsychotic dose, I fall into a world of delusions. And even now, I doubt whether the Spies aren't real. But I try to use logic.

Also I asked my Dad why I can spend days locking myself in my bedroom and only talking to certain people. He said it's a mixture of my AS and schizophrenia. I can see his point: AS because I get overloaded by people, and schizophrenia because I'm too paranoid to leave the house, and my bedroom feels safer because I can shut the curtains and switch the lights off (to hide from the Spies).

So my question is: is it possible for my schizophrenia and AS to overlap, and if so, how?

It'd be almost impossible to differentiate the negative symptoms of Schizophrenia and AS by looking at you without any reasons given for "symptoms".

Social withdrawal is part of both
talking to few people can be a part of both
overloaded by people can be a part of both

The delusions, i.e., spies in your case, is the positive symptom of Schizophrenia.

You ask yourself why is it that I'm socially withdrawn? Why don't I like talking to many people? Why am I overloaded by people?

For example:

If you're socially withdrawn due to no interest in socializing = AS or negative symptoms of Schizophrenia. It's AS if you've always been like that and with no childhood onset of Schizophrenia

If you're socially withdrawn because people are aliens who're spying on you (or whatever), then that's a positive symptom of Schizophrenia

The negative symptoms can make a schizophrenic person technically meet criteria for AS. The way to distinguish the two is if the AS traits clearly were present before the hallucinations/delusions started, and do not represent a change in functioning.

Well I was diagnosed with AS by an Educational Psychologist who knew I had been diagnosed with schizophrenia at 15. My AS symptoms of being "socially odd", not understanding body language/tone of voice, not making eye contact, talking in a monotone, never using gestures, obsessive interests in certain topics, etc etc were present for as long as my parents knew me (even when I was a baby I behaved differently).

However I first started hearing voices at the age of 14, and had the Woman at age 15 who I kept seeing. Now I have Spies, but I'm doubting Their non-existence that people claim (people keep saying "they're not real" and I'm not really agreeing).

I am in my bedroom now and I feel scared to go out. That is what people would state is the more schizophrenia side. However sometimes I lock myself in my room to get away from noise/people (I live in supported housing). That would be AS.

My psychiatrist said, from observations that my GP had made, I entered the development of schizophrenia at age 12.

Some areas of my AS may be schizophrenia and vice versa.

My negative symptoms definitely do overlap with AS.