The social part is the only thing that is out of the ordinary but everything else sounds like ASD to me. My sons teacher once thought that he could read so he was not behind the rest of the NT kids until I brought up the fact that he was in fact memorizing the stories in the book that the class was listening to everyday. My son has a photographic memory as well. I instructed the teacher to try another book that he had not seen or herd, and what do you know he could not read it.

My point here is that our children often make up for their deficiencies by excelling in something else. Maybe your daughters social ability is like that.

As for testing and diagnosis I would recommend having your daughter seen by a neurologist to get your diagnosis. Just try to get a referral from your PCP if your insurance will not pay. You will then get at least a good answer about your daughters condition even if it isn't ASD.

If she is "very social" then she does not have autism...there are however MANY other disorders that cause similar symptoms. The key to autism is a social motivation (not automatically motivated by any social experience/attitude/reward) deficient. However, you should seek another opinion maybe try Children's hospital VCU or the Kluge clinic or even your local department of health can do a diagnositic eval.

You might want to google echolalia for her conversations using lines from movies etc. If she plays next to another peer, that would be parellel play which is a characteristic of autism. My son has autism and only socializes with adults and kids who are much older than him. Don't rule anything out and keep going until you get to a professional who is knowledgable.

Find a developmental pediatrician who specializes in autism. Next, try to find a psychologist to evaluate and diagnose her (one who has experience with autistic children). Might want to try a large hospital since they may everyone you need in one place (developmental pediatrician, neurologist, psychologist, etc.). Lastly, find the local Autism Society Chapter in your area and reach out to them they may have a list of providers for you. God Bless You & Your Family! Hang in there!

I too initially thought that my DD was "too social" to have autism. Higher functioning girls on the spectrum can often mimic basic social behaviors (greetings, etc.) but struggle with the more subtle social interactions. One big thing that her therapists, teachers, and I are working with DD on is how to engage peers that she wants to play with in a functional way rather than going up to them and hugging them. I would seek out an evaluator who is familiar with "twice exceptional" (gifted + learning disabled) kids, especially girls with Asperger's/high-functioning autism. Might even be worth a trip up to Johns Hopkins' CTY diagnostic clinic.