For the longest time I thought I was an effective communicator, just weird because I struggle intensely with initiating ‘live’ conversations with people.
Once I get going however it is difficult to shut me up!
Asynchronous ,written comms are far & away my preferred medium, I get time to review my initial ND thoughts & amend them for a wider audience.
(He said merrily editing this response).
I knew I struggled sometimes to get my point across & I knew that sometimes I didn’t fully understand the subtleties of conversing with another. Again I just thought I was weird.
In recent years (since the Pandemic lockdowns especially) agoraphobia has been a thing for me & it struck me that it is like there is an invisible barrier that I have to break thru. The back doors to the garden are difficult, the front doors to the ‘outside’ world need some serious effort.
‘Live’ comms is much the same as trying to get out into the wider world!
When I got the ASD diagnosis report back from the consultant psychiatrist I was really surprised at the level of ‘normal’ communication I was failing to either exhibit or understand. I mean talk about wandering around with a virtual bag over my head!
Mrs S. is a MH social worker & during our discussions since starting on this journey we have spoken many times about how ND folk are ‘helped’ to comply with ‘normal’ standards. It has always struck me as grossly unfair.
Reading your thoughts today I agree, there is this element of ND folk not being able to convey successfully our thoughts / intended meaning to NT folk , but as with so many things it is the minority that have to make the changes to address this.
I feel that the world would be a happier place (for all) if the majority of NT folk realised that it does indeed take two to tango!