Extreme Introversion that never changes

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I’ve always been extremely introverted. As a child it was called “shyness” but I always felt there was more to the story. What I’ve noticed is that neurotypicals who were “just shy” as children seemed to grow out of it at some point. Even as adults if they are slow to warm up in new situations, they eventually do.

Part of the reason I strongly suspect having AS is that I am just as “shy” now as I was in elementary school and it doesn’t seem to matter who is around me or how long I’ve been in a particular environment. I never “warm up” like even “shy” NTs do.

I even remember in elementary school a lot of times a loud, extroverted child would be placed next to a quieter child and the quiet child would eventually begin to talk more. This never happened with me no matter who I sat next to and it even became a joke among the other kids. “She doesn’t talk no matter WHAT.”

It’s as if there’s always been an invisible wall between myself and my environment and other people and I don’t seem to naturally adapt the way most NTs do. Does this sound like an Aspie thing?

I’m not asking anyone here to diagnose me I’m just curious if others can relate.

Sounds like selective mutism. You could have ASD if you have other traits. Have you taken any of the tests here Set Of Scientific Tests Related To Autism Spectrum Disorders

Introversion is not the same as shyness. Extreme shyness may be selective mutism though, or ASD, or other things.

I’ve taken the autism quotient and scored a 34 or something like that, which is indicative of Aspergers. I’m aware that shyness and introversion are not the same thing but a lot of teachers would automatically call anyone “shy” who didn’t need to socialize constantly. To this day I still have very little motivation to socialize, which I realize is separate from shyness. Also part of the reason I rarely spoke as a child was that I had no clue HOW to socialize or relate to other children. Most of the time I was indifferent anyway, like socializing just wasn’t on my radar.

My shyness in school was more noticeable when called on to answer a question. I would say very little in that case. Socially, I would try to interact but not very successfully. I am not introverted, although I don't know if I was aggressive at initiating social contact as a kid. Later, I became more lonely but generally had some friends. That continued as an adult but slowly improved. The improvement mostly resulted from finding more ND people to socialize with than I was able to as a kid.

I suggest you to take a look into social anxiety too.

I'm extremely introverted and I have classic autism.