Sometimes I find it very interesting that neurotypicals state that Autistic people have communication problems. The claim about Autistic people having issues with communication is documented in the DSM-V. I know that communicating is difficult for me. I have many times when I am thinking about what I want to say, but, when it comes to forming the words in the way I intend them to come out, and then saying them, I often feel like someone learning to ride a bicycle with the training wheels removed for the first time. I feel as if my brain is the back wheel to hold the bike up, and my mouth is the wheel in front that can move in either direction. When I am in the seat trying to decide what direction I am going to go in moving forward; I am often worried about falling. Sometimes I do fall. Other times, I don't fall.
Yet at other times, I think that neurotypical people have a harder time communicating than Autistic people do. Time and again, I have made a phone call to ask someone for a clarification on something I have read, and the person on the other end seems to beat around the bush. Here are some common comments I have heard when asking for a clarification. "Sometimes, thats the way we do things." "It is not uncommon for one person to say one thing, but, mean something else." "The other person you spoke to, didn't know to tell you that this is what we really mean." "Why are you hanging off every word I say? Not everything is so literal, there are exceptions."
More times than not, I often feel like I am the exception, and I wasn't told the entire story of what was intended. If they don't mean what they say, how am I supposed to understand what they want? It is only after I tell someone that I am Autistic, that someone says "Oh, well, that is why you didn't understand." That kind of thing is so micro-aggressive. Try explaining that to a neurotypical person you are trying to talk to.
I am not so sure the Autistic is the person with the communication problems. I think neurotypicals might have a lot to learn about communications from Autistic people.
