Artemis1d ago

Can we put "how much time do you spend worrying if you are being misunderstood?" on the list of autism diagnostic questions?

Being misunderstood is my greatest fear in life, & I'm pretty sure autistic trauma is why.

"How often do you feel like you need to clarify things you say with very specific language?"

Show threadArtemis1d ago

Here's a good one: "Do people often claim that you said something which you *definitely* did not say & get mad at you, even though you chose your language very specifically to try to make your meaning *abundantly* clear?"

"Do conversations with a single individual sometimes feel like a game of 'telephone' because the other person keeps incorrectly paraphrasing things you say?"

Show threadArtemis1d ago

I have no idea how many hours of my life I have spent explaining to people that I didn't say the thing that they are saying that I did, but it's fucking stressful as hell.

Among other things, people seem to think all words with an overlapping semantic range are interchangeable, so you'll choose to use one that is specific to what you mean & then they substitute a different word with significantly different connotations & don't even seem to notice.

Show threadspooky Ske-Lil-ton 🦇9h ago
@artemis i've had the following scenario with my bf multiple times:
I say something
Bf repeats it in his own words to clarify if he understood me correctly
And I'm like "no! But yes. I would never say it like that because that word you chose has a different connotation for me and doesn't work in that context. But from my understanding of your usage or that word, you mean the same thing I do"
(This is about words that many people would use interchangeably in most scenarios)
Show threadspooky Ske-Lil-ton 🦇
@artemis (to be clear: I like that he repeats what I said in his own words, it makes it easier to notice miscommunication)
12:41pmWeb