Words/language as an autistic person

Glad I made you smile........and please do rest assured.......I most certainly do not worry what people think of me in terms of how I present and communicate.  

Hi Number, your post made me smile. I will often search around for the 'common' word for something, fail and then grab the less common alternative and I feel like it makes me sound like a n00b too. I don't honestly worry about it all that much though as worrying what other people think I find is a bit of a waste of time, as long as you're not upsetting/hurting anyone. 

Yea - I can definitely end up with a "fancy" word that "sticks" and I find myself using it over and over for either days, weeks or months until it settles back down as just "a word" rather than "the word."

.....it's not cool.....I sound like a bit of a kn ob at the best of times (unless I'm masking or mimicking to one particular character).....but when I find myself lacing in the word "prophetic" or "parochial" or "discombobulated" while buying a pint of milk.....I hear myself sounding like a megaknob!

Yes - I'm as pleased as punch.......you and I are so different in many ways, yet we are also so clearly the same.  It's so cool!  Hopefully some of your ausomeness and positivity will continue to rub off on me.  [As a wordsmith who is familiar with all manner of dialects, conventions AND the urban dictionary......I really nearly didn't leave that wording.........but then again.....it's important to have fun !!!!!

Have a great one, Ausome one.

if i read a book the fancier words that no one ever uses in those books tend to stick in my head and come out on top of my brains word to pick for the moment list. my mind ends up not being able to remember the common normal word for the thing and uses the most recent word i remember for it, so when a book uses overly smart words my brain tends to pick them and i forget the normal word as if its on the tip of my tongue but out of laziness i use the last remembered one which would be the one i read.

oh and there was a time when i was ringing microsoft customer care so they could fix my xbox 360 that had red rings of death. they had me spell something out as they couldnt understand me and wanted me to not only spell out a word or code but also do it in that weird... foxtrot language whatever it is lol ... i dont know that... so i ended up sayong O for oxygen, H for hydrogen... i realised this then i came to E... i wanted to say electrolytes lol .... but after i said oxygen and hydrogen i was like, yeah no im not doing that... but then i couldnt think of anything for E so i was like...E for.... errr..... errr.... then the call center person said "elephant!" and i said yeah that lol

Number said:

I could never have dreamt of feeling such a strong connection to this quantity of great souls all in one place.  It's so comforting to me....and I still feel excitement when I read a resonant OP followed by a contiguous sequence of resonant contributors.

That’s great! I am so glad you have found your neurokin!

I think a lot of this comes from us using language as a communication tool which is more specific for us since we often struggle with the other communication tools of visual cues, intonation of phrases, societal rules and emotional expectations.

It makes lots of sense for us to want to dig deeper into some of the oddities of language and let ourselves become more adept at it since it is the only tool that makes sense to us.

I belive we are also prone to quoting films, books and others important to us in conversation as a result of scripting - using a phrase from a cool movie character in attempt to be cool ourselves for example.

All very autistic traits.

I have always felt that words when used properly can convey a lot of power - a specificity that is kind of lost when spoken as they are there on the page to be re-read to reinforce their meaning.

Words can also be quite emotional in the right context - something I rarely used to get through verbal dialogue but they can convey a beauty and artistry when used well.

Debbie.

You've started another cracker!  Too spooned-out at the moment, but just reading the responses here, so far, makes me feel very much part of this tribe.  I feel very blessed and lucky to have found you all....I so love that we are all so very similar in so many ways.  I could never have dreamt of feeling such a strong connection to this quantity of great souls all in one place.  It's so comforting to me....and I still feel excitement when I read a resonant OP followed by a contiguous sequence of resonant contributors.

This is a good place.

This could be somewhat straying off topic but within me is a need to communicate effectively/correctly. I think I'm very good at pitching how I talk depending on who I am with in order to relate to different people. Underneath I think this can sometimes lead to a slight air of uncanniness but more usually an air of relatability .... which is a contradiction but my life experience is contradictory. 

I can be good at explaining things to others but then other situations I just cannot find the words. I've notice this happens if a topic I like comes up. There is too much information stored to be able to retrieve and speak about what I want to and using the right words. So I can end up being too brief and then the interaction isn't satisfactory from my side but no one would know this. I've been told I have pedantic speech by people who know what they are looking for, I've been told I'm articulate by others. I've had people mock my accent, I've had others who find it charming. It's a huge part of my identity more than it seems to be for my peers.

In terms of language, I used to love poems as a child. I like the feel of words in my mouth or what they conjure up in my head. I LOVE accents - hearing them, mimicking them....repeating words or phrases, making words up, the rhythm of words and phrases. 

I’ve never taken an interest in language. 

However, I am from working class Glasgow family and have been made fun of consistently growing up for ‘speaking posh’. 

I am always inventing my own words, and corrupting existing words to make them sound better to me, or changing the pronunciation. My internal accent, you know the one you hear in your head when you are reading, is different to my own external accent, and always has been. My mother made a huge deal of accents, telling me not to pick up the local one (that she despised), but this only isolated me even more. Words have always been really important to me. Dipping in to the dictionary is fascinating - I just wish I could retain it all!

There's also a long list of words I can't say. Even if I try I just kind of gag and nothing comes out! I'll give you an example - the word 'bra' - makes me want to vomit just seeing it written!

Yes, I have an interest in words and language. Oddly enough, I did not develop an accent, although both my parents had one. My brother, who was non-verbal as a child, still did pick up the accent. I learned differently, from where, I'm not sure! TV maybe?

I have a large vocabulary, and an interest in etymology - I love to learn how words developed over time. I like some words which are now out of common parlance, but probably what makes my speech different is using too many words, more than anything. 

I find some people struggle to follow what I'm saying, or just switch off after a few seconds! 

Yes absolutely, I am always told I speak quite formally and use quite a lot of complex language.

It’s definitely a part of me being autistic because I like the structure and predictability gives me and also I like using complex language because it is very specific and there is less ambiguity about what I mean. I have just thought as well that I much prefer speaking and communicating formally as I don’t want to make the other person feel uncomfortable if I am too casual.

Also I think it comes from my passion for language generally, I have always been told that I have a flair for writing. Also because of my autistic analytical cognitive style I want to make sure that the words I am using are entirely accurate. Details are very important to me!

Thanks for starting this great discussion!

I love plays on words. I remember a sign on a butchers stall once read "PORK LIONS" and it still makes me laugh. 

Here's an article I've found:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/autism-language-why-so-many-us-word-obsessed-nicola-whiting-mbe