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?
Definitely! I think that the problem is that both the diagnostic criteria and the general perception of autism is based on stereotypes, often involving being gifted in maths or working in Silicon Valley. This might very well have led to people being missed and/or not realising that they're autistic until much later in life.
I have always been fond of words, beginning very early in life and at school the complaint that I sounded as though I'd "swallowed a dictionary" was often levelled against me (by other pupils,that is. Obviously my English teachers thought I was great!). My sons likewise and I simply thought they took after me in that regard.
Then, a couple of years ago, I came across the word "hyperlexia". Moreover, I discovered that this was often associated with autism. Hmm... Not entirely happy about this. I thought I had a way with words, a gift, a talent. But apparently I have a condition called "hyperlexia"!
Oh well, I guess it can be both. :)
I agree, stereotypes are used too much and people have surely been missed due to that.
At school I was a 'posh snob' because I spoke correctly and knew a lot of words. Years ago that used to be a good thing didn't it? Educating yourself? ♀️
I've heard of hyperlexia, remind me what it is again? It's good for the job of proofreading anyway, lol.
I got that. Told I sounded that. Received pronunciation from the telly.
Another thing I got told was that I sounded like I had learnt to read before learning to speak.