Published on 12, July, 2020
The stereotyped autistic person is obsessed with maths, science, technology, but I wondered if there is another type who is obsessed with words, correcting word mistakes, dictionaries, learning new words etc. A Word Nerd.
I am a proud Word Nerd, I have zero interest or skills in maths, science, technology. It is a reason I didn't even consider I was autistic until I was in my 40s/50s- I wasn't a computer geek, so I couldn't be autistic, could I?
What do you think?
Couldn't agree more.
I think it's outdated views about numbers science etc. There are musicians and actors who are on the spectrum. To me autism is how the brain is wired, but this only manifests externally in behaviours. I don't think preferences etc should be a determining characteristic of autism (like on the questionnaires....are you fascinated with timetables? Etc...)
It's been commented that I'm very articulate. I have a good grasp of idioms. I very much enjoyed poetry as a child. I love accents, dialects and how words feel in my mouth. However I can have difficulty explaining myself, or how I feel.
I haven't got a clue about computers but do have some interest in science. I teach English language. There's a lot of pattern recognition and repetition in my classes in order to teach it.
I'm exactly the same about being articulate...well in writing anyway! I have problems explaining things in speech because conversations go too fast and I'm expected to keep up, explain quickly before they move on. I can't keep up. I can't talk over other people and keep track of what they're saying.
Yes, it's the stereotype isn't it...'autistic people are all computer geeks or card counters like Rain Man.' etc. I know an autistic woman, she writes wonderful imaginative fantasy books and there are definitely more autistic authors than we think. Especially in the fantasy genre because they can invent their own worlds.
I am a proofreader, I love searching out mistakes in writing and correcting them so it looks perfect. Nothing to do with maths, science etc. I wonder if there are a lot of autistic proofreaders who like the same things as me.
The only science related thing I like is psychology related. I like to know how humans function and why they behave that way.
It’s a pleasure to read your posts
Gosh that's nice, thanks.