I’m in my early 40s and was diagnosed with AvPD a couple years ago. The description definitely resonates with me. Most people say a personality disorder has to be pervasive throughout life, so adult onset would contradict that, but I was definitely able to be more social when I was younger, even with the stutter. Then again, some people think AvPD could just be a severe form of social anxiety and that the label will eventually be removed from the DSM. It’s not a hard science, of course, and it’s usually diagnosed when you exhibit certain clusters of traits. It’s messy. Whatever the case, I do wonder about the chicken-and-egg-ness of my severe social anxiety (or AvPD) and stuttering. After all, if anything will train your brain to be overly fearful and hypervigilant when interacting with others it’s stuttering. I do think personality plays a big role, though. My dad has a stutter, for instance, so there is a genetic component for me, but it hasn’t affected nearly him as much. I was born with a very sensitive disposition and I think it has snowballed on me over the years. I may have been socially anxious without the stutter, and just have a double dose of anxiety because of it.