Employment and Autism

People with classic autism or more severe forms of autistic spectrum disorders cannot generally handle jobs which require any significant degree of interaction with others. Autism makes it difficult to communicate effectively or to receive communication effectively.

On the surface of it I come across as very wordy with a large vocabulary, but, what if anything does it communicate? If the understanding is not there or misinterpreted well then that marks me down as a useless communicator and despite an interest in creative writing I am not much good at dialogue owing to bad listening skills, but I am working on them.

I can relate. Until a good while ago I used to have 'at least I'm articulate' as my one imagined saving grace. But then it became ever clearer: I'm not articulate, I'm merely wordy - circumlocutionary even to the point where it must seem to others at times like an embarrassing affectation even though I mostly long for the effective conciseness and clarity others seem to have at their fingertips. When a family member (knowing they can be blunter with me than most) says 'Can we get to the point?' I don't mind the humorous pointing out of how tortuously inefficient I'm being with language, but it also makes me even worse somehow - the more I reach for 'getting to the point', the more pronounced the side-winding towards it becomes.

I think my side-bar killed the thread! 

Oh you scared me there in case I was wrong! I'd have been so embarrassed. Maybe I can do for you (albeit less charmingly) what Kate just did for me, and say that I think you put words together very nicely indeed - and can see why creative writing would be a strength. 

Talking of dialogue, can I squeeze in a tenuous side-bar of a pet hate (or at least cause of confusion) that sometimes come up in novels. It's moments when, quite validly and refreshingly, the descriptive stuff gives way momentarily to pure dialogue, but...

...then you start to lose track of who (out of say three people) is saying what. Part of me is always thinking, 'Is this a failure on my part? They should be distinctive enough voices individually to guess and I've missed the signal that's clear to most' But sometimes that's not even it, because it's a discussion about what to do next or something - in short statements- but it's completely ambiguous as to who said which thing. Only the author knows (and maybe even forgets later on). It makes me have to re-read the section three times in three combinations so that at least one is correct and I've read the definitive version of the book... without knowing which that is! Anyone else thrown by stuff like that, and OCD enough (I use the term loosely - as I don't have that particular 'co-morbidity' dx'd) to cover all the options when you suspect that 'I guessed right first time because what I say it is, it is' is the general default of the reading population?

It was a very charming reply, for a brief moment I thought that it was for me, you lucky individual.

Thanks Kate, that means a lot. I'm better in writing I think. Verbally, it's a bit more of a runaway train. Or one that struggles to start. Feast or famine. 

On here you’re a wonderfully eloquent communicator. I think you convey very subtle things with clarity - I don’t feel you’re at all ‘inefficient’ with language - not in writing on this forum anyway. Conciseness isn’t everything - if it was there would be no novels - only short stories :) 
We are often so critical of ourselves - that’s as big a problem as any other we might face. 

On here you’re a wonderfully eloquent communicator. I think you convey very subtle things with clarity - I don’t feel you’re at all ‘inefficient’ with language - not in writing on this forum anyway. Conciseness isn’t everything - if it was there would be no novels - only short stories :) 
We are often so critical of ourselves - that’s as big a problem as any other we might face. 

I think my side-bar killed the thread! 

Oh you scared me there in case I was wrong! I'd have been so embarrassed. Maybe I can do for you (albeit less charmingly) what Kate just did for me, and say that I think you put words together very nicely indeed - and can see why creative writing would be a strength. 

Talking of dialogue, can I squeeze in a tenuous side-bar of a pet hate (or at least cause of confusion) that sometimes come up in novels. It's moments when, quite validly and refreshingly, the descriptive stuff gives way momentarily to pure dialogue, but...

...then you start to lose track of who (out of say three people) is saying what. Part of me is always thinking, 'Is this a failure on my part? They should be distinctive enough voices individually to guess and I've missed the signal that's clear to most' But sometimes that's not even it, because it's a discussion about what to do next or something - in short statements- but it's completely ambiguous as to who said which thing. Only the author knows (and maybe even forgets later on). It makes me have to re-read the section three times in three combinations so that at least one is correct and I've read the definitive version of the book... without knowing which that is! Anyone else thrown by stuff like that, and OCD enough (I use the term loosely - as I don't have that particular 'co-morbidity' dx'd) to cover all the options when you suspect that 'I guessed right first time because what I say it is, it is' is the general default of the reading population?

It was a very charming reply, for a brief moment I thought that it was for me, you lucky individual.

Thanks Kate, that means a lot. I'm better in writing I think. Verbally, it's a bit more of a runaway train. Or one that struggles to start. Feast or famine.