Published on 12, July, 2020
Does anyone here find talking to people hard work? I feel like my self talk is constantly working over time trying parse what the other person is saying, and then I'm telling myself that they may be trying to tell me something different or that a smile or facial expression can mean loads of things. Sometimes I have to tell myself to just listen. If I am in a group of people it's terrible, like people are speaking in tongues and there too many conversations going on at the same time.
I had the first part of an autism assessment recently and haven't been back for the second part because they kept saying I was too verbally fluid and used gesture. Even though if anyone knew me from childhood they would say I was extremely quiet, which I am, unless you engage me in a topic I know about. I think I have fairly limited gestures as opposed to other people aswell.
As an adult in my 40's I think I have managed to learn loads of ways to deal with things I find difficult.
I wondered if anyone else has a similar experience? Debating whether to continue on the diagnosis journey, or take a route that is less NHS.
I'm terrible at being put on the spot with questions i'm unprepared for, so it was really important to me that I thoroughly documented examples that meant i didn't have to rely on my speech.
Do you ever feel like if you are put on the spot, and you answer but you didn't answer correctly, or in a way that you actually believe, the person will run with it and it is way too complicated to fix?
Example: i was in a bar with someone once and they asked me a question and I said "I don't like people", what I meant was "I find people exhausting so I limit my time around them". The person I was with had coded the first response and the conversation was going wrong so I gave up.
yes definitely, and then I end up getting overwhelmed attempting to correct the situation, and ruminating over it for days afterwards, such a waste of energy! It's gotten much worse since getting older, i now overanalyse every question and take so much longer to respond to questions because of that.