Autism and Literal Thinking

On specificity, direct communication, and clarifying questions

A little clarity, anyone?

I’ve read a lot of posts on social media which express how unpleasant it is when people get mad at us (usually Autistics, but sometimes other ND folks as well) for asking for clarification.

Apparently neurotypical folks (NTs) perceive this as passive-aggressive or disrespectful.

When NTs ask questions for clarification, they’re often done in a subversive way — they’re often not real questions, they’re rhetorical, sometimes even snide. They’re a form of commentary on what another person is saying or doing, rather than genuinely seeking information.

To be clear, these are generalized statements which don’t apply to each person or each situation, but occur frequently enough that they’re part of the discourse in the ND community.

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Harmful assumptions

One aspect I haven’t seen touched upon is being treated like we’re unintelligent for asking a follow-up or clarifying question. This has happened to me a LOT.