Comments on: The hell of being asked questions.

By: Athena

Athena — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:24:43 +0000

Yesterday I had one hell of a time comprehending speech. Not sure why…….everything was just off, and I had to say “what? what?” every so often…..I got tired of doing that and just nodded……fortunately it was not a potentially dangerous situation at all……just talking about everyday stuff…..errands we were going for…….I was with my housekeeper/former surrogate mom when I was little…..

I love her, she’s been in our family for almost 20 years now.

Athena

By: Melody

Melody — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 03:23:38 +0000

This happens to me very often! In foreign language classes, my problems doing this become strikingly apparent, as my instructor will ask me something like: “what’s your hobby?” in Japanese. I understand the sentence, but I cannot think of something just randomly. I usually end up saying, “uhhhhh….” for about 30 seconds to a minute, then the instructor moves on. Then, when we have a scripted skit, then I already know what to say, and am able to put effort into pronouncing things right. In fact, being in French I was the thing that prompted me to go from a 504 to an IEP.

Every evening my dad will tell me what we have for dinner, all my options. Sometimes the options are not many. Yet, day after day, I can’t remember any of them. I am usually too disorganized when I go into the kitchen so that even though I look, I don’t really SEE anything, and I am still clueless about what we have or haven’t got (Much like the person who looks at their watch for the time, but then realizes that they have no idea what time it is – something many people, autistic and NT, have encountered).

By: tom

tom — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 08:21:40 +0000

i loved the idea that justthisguy suggested – forget abilites you cant always access. if you get asked a question answer it as crypticly or indirectly or artisticly as you can. its much more interesting and unique than standard answers. dont get me wrong i understand it must be excrutiatingly frustrating but i guess in the end youve gotta accept what youve got and be at peace with what youve not got (at least to some extent). this is something i am coming to terms with in my own life so i can at least to a small degree empathise with you. maybe focus on not going out of your head as well as focussing on improving the ease with which you can access recall.

By: observer

observer — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 16:06:38 +0000

What are some of the ways that are successful in terms of getting information from you? My cousin has this problem, and these are some things that have helped:

– putting objects nearby that might trigger the information
– replaying/making sounds that might trigger it
– drawing the question or answer

Other suggestions from anyone reading this would be appreciated.

By: sly civilian

sly civilian — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 14:08:39 +0000

“So as usual, this isn’t just annoying, but dangerous.”

No doubt. I can tell people before a panic episode what i want them to do…very few will actually follow my instructions. They ask questions as it’s going on, and unintentionally use my incoherence to escalate the situation.

By: Justthisguy

Justthisguy — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 08:59:26 +0000

What I mean, I reckon, is that if the people who asked you that question read what you wrote here, they might figure a way to ask you a question or two you might be able to answer, in such a way that they could find out what they want you to tell them, and not annoy you so much as you have mentioned.

By: Justthisguy

Justthisguy — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 21:39:09 +0000

In a way, I think you answered that question (that those people asked) with what you wrote here. Ask an open-ended, free-wheeling question, get a tangential associationally-thought creative answer. Kinda Zen-like, sorta-maybe.

Open-ended questions about things which I’ve not thought about before tend to make my brain freeze up a bit too, and I’m maybe just on the autistic end of “normal.”

I do think one of the hardest things for somebody to do is to appreciate and understand the thinking of somebody who just thinks very differently than he does

By: Ivan

Ivan — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 20:41:33 +0000

I can relate very well to this post. Sometimes I try to “let my mind wander” to all sorts of random thoughts…….searching for anything that will trigger memories or thoughts or words relating to whatever I wish to explain.

I think I might have trouble reminding myself that others have this issue besides me, because I am in my own head (at times).

I’ve gotten frustrated to the point of meltdown before………trying to explain something or even to figure out in coherent words in my own mind……..what I am thinking.

Ivan

By: ballastexistenz

ballastexistenz — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 18:42:04 +0000

It’s email, and they’re going out of their way to make this easier on me, it’s just one of those frustrating things (and I was in a really pissier-than-usual mood today).

By: anonymous

anonymous — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 18:35:28 +0000

Are these people asking this stuff verbally, audibly, in person or by phone to you?

(Rather than e-mailing, or otherwise writing out their questions in text, to you under circumstances that don’t require any immediate response other than for you to write back at your own pace/convenience.)