I also do the odd pauses, even when writing. I use ellipses (or just three dots) to indicate where my thinking and my typing weren’t in sync. Of course, I don’t do this in formal writing, but sometimes I have to go back and clean it up.

The whole episode seemed very odd to me, considering that I just recently disclosed being autistic. I suppose the more people I tell, the more odd experiences I will have. On the other hand the person also asked everyone in the room to introduce themselves by name, which I think was done for my benefit since I have difficulty recognizing faces. So it’s not like someone was “out to get me.” Probably just does not know what to do with the new info about me.

People generally do talk over me, interupt me, finish my sentences, suggest alternatives to what I just said, correct me, rush me etc. I am generally a speaking person, although I’ve started to learn just how much I do NOT speak at times. I used to think I was being “shy” but it’s actually temporary loss of the ability to speak.

I learned something from your post, which I had not thought of before, which is not to read over someone’s shoulder when they are typing. I don’t know that I’ve done that but I have kind of looked very hard at someone’s keyboard just because I had never seen one before. I suppose curiosity can be annoying. Maybe it would be like you looking in my mouth every time I open it to talk!

One thing I do when I’m in the middle of a sentence and I’ve forgotten a word is wave my hands around in a circular motion, as if I’m trying to stir the word up from the bottom of a muddy river. This may be a somewhat idiosyncratic gesture, but at least my friends and family tend to “get it” that I’m still working on the phrase. However, they tend to jump in with suggestions, which might make things more confusing.

Another difficulty that you highlight is with speaking (or typing) relatively clear sentences that yet werent’what you were meanign to say. Usually this happens when I’m asked to finish my sentence, cause I’m distracted and start with a new sentence all over again, that may not have as much relevance as the one I had wanted to say.

By the way, I also seem to have some difficulty speaking (and typing, unfortunately) “on purpose”, ie. like I knwow what I want to say (or write) but when I get to actually saying/writing it, I can’t find the words. IN fact, I have a few posts on my blog that I wish I’d been able to write just a little while earlier, eithe rin Dutch (my native language) or in English (so I could translate) so that I could’ve shown them to the staff, who have a habit of encouraging writing as a means of communication (which is a good thing), but have hte mistaken assumption that my typing is free from communication difficulties (an dindeed there are fewer difficulties, but they are still there).

Not finishing a person’s sentence for them, talking over them, rushing them, and interrupting them every time they pause, is simply being considerate and courteous.

Life today is too stressed and rushed. The movement for slow campaigns to reduce the current hectic pace of modern life and encourages people to take time. There are slow cities and slow food, and a book “In Praise of Slow”. I don’t know the name of the author.

I’m not sure today’s hectic pace is so good for NTs either. A few years ago I read an interesting book by Dr. Peter Whybrow called American Mania: When More is Not Enough. Dr. Whybrow “shows how human biology is ill equipped to cope with the demands of the 24/7, global, information-saturated, rapid-fire culture we not only have created, but that we have come to crave” (from the book website, http://www.peterwhybrow.com/books/americanmania/ ). I am thankful every day for the lessons that my autistic son has taught me in slowing down and savoring the seemingly small everyday miracles.