I know people with aspergers

NAS16682 said:

I have noticed some autistic people speaking with American accents when they are not American. And I have noticed people not using there own county or country accents, like a 'neutral' accent.

I can't say that I speak with any different an accent to anyone else in my area, but I do sound a bit 'flat' when I hear myself speak.

Actually I also watch too much American TV. And I find my local English accent common and repulsive.  Thus leading to even more social isolation and more TV.

People can pick up accents & odd vocabulary from all sorts of places, maybe the ones you know just watched far too much American television.

I'm from Lancashire, but my accent/vocabulary has always had bits of everything. When I was a kid (in the 1970s), I definitely watched far too much television, but most of it was British & I was particularly fond of science programs like Horizon. Since then I have been to University in Scotland & moved around the UK quite a bit for work, so my accent is now even more cryptic than ever.

I have noticed that accent/vocabulary often seems to be a tribal thing within certain groups of people (e.g that awful obession with saying 'innit' at the end of every sentence), but since many of us have never really felt a part of any particular 'Tribe', maybe people on the spectrum just don't feel as much need to sound like everybody else & choose their own individual accents.

I've got in the habit of using slang and unfortunately can't seem to be able to get out of it! I've often been told I sound 'posh' though and when I was at primary school I remember some kid saying ''e tawks funny!' to my LSA. Most of the kids there sounded like they were from Peckham or somewhere despite being from rural Kent.

I hate people using 'your' instead of 'you're'! It's such an easy rule to learn yet so many people do it. Sometimes I think people deliberately misspell words just to 'fit in'

I know with myself I don't like speaking in slang and like to pronounce words properly.  I have a Scottish accent but no one can ever work out where in Scotland I'm from because I don't really speak like other people from my area.  When I moved to a city over 100 miles away I've noticed they have a very broad accent and it really annoys me when they say 'ahheen' instead of 'everything', but I have to try and understand that there is different accents in the world and this is how they choose to speak, but it drives me mad.

Same as people using 'your' instead of 'you're' in text.  I have to try and not let it annoy me.... 

On Educating the East End, the autistic child, Christopher, seemed to speak in an American accent. Maybe this is more common with those lower down the spectrum - none of my acquaintances with Asperger's 'speak American'.

I have literally never heard of people with Aspergers sounding American before. Outraged's post makes a lot of sense though - I've often wondered why I have basically no accent apart from when I'm furious or drunk. Nearly all my friends growing up had strong neo-Kentish/Mockney accents (for some reason everyone down my way sounds like they're from East London despite the fact they're not) so you would have thought I would have followed by their example but no. I've never been particularly susceptible to trends, a trait that I believe is strengthened by my Aspergers, so this is probably why

Linking into the use of language:

Triad of Impairments - impairment, as defined by thesaurus -

• The occurence of a change for the worse.
• A symtom of reduced quality or strength.
• The condition of being unable to perform as a consequence of physical or mental unfitness.
• Damage that results in a reduction of strength or quality.
• The act of making something futile and useless.

So I am/have any of the above - maybe threefold - either way, I am diagnosed as being autistic and therefore considered to be impaired. But I would say that these definitions could apply to any and everybody at any time that they occur in "everyday" life. 

I resent being considered as being the impaired one simply because often I agree to differ. Maybe resent is the wrong word - it hurts to be told that I am impaired simply because I do not always follow. 

Socialisation allows people to shorten words and phrases backed by gestures that everyone understands.

If you are not socially engaging successfully you are not getting this feedback, and can only suppose pronouncing the full word or phrase is required. You've no way of knowing if your own abbtreviations would be understood.

Enunciation of whole words and prases probably comes over as posh.

As suggested above, Americanisms come readily from the media, especially television where a lot of popular sitcoms, detective sries, dramas are imports from America or Australia. That therefore may be most people on the spectrum's main source of social modification of language.

Unfortunately its this sort of thing that isn't identified by the Health Professionals who only view us in terms of the Triad of Impairments. We could teach them a lot, but they're too cocksure and smug to listen.

that seems to make sense thanks.

that seems to make sense thanks.

I dont know, and Id never heared of this before. Are you certain that they are not American or have not spent significant time in America?

But speculatively; let us consider a socially isolated indivual who has little acess to conversation. They do however have acess to television.

Now let us suppose that when they feel socially confused or anxious, they rely on social lessons as taught by contempory sitcoms or films to serve as indicators of appropriate social/conversational behavior.

Now let us suppose that the majority of such programming is produced by American studios using predominanty American actors...

Is it possible to follow my reasoning to a conclusion...