the post i’d written yesterday, about asperger’s syndrome in plain english, had a comment from a woman who mentioned that she found her son, like me, had a hard time being given vague instructions, instead it worked better if she explained exactly what he needed to do. also if she left notes for him, he could understand the notes much better than her speaking.
an additional suggestion i have regarding that: comic strips. after discovering auditory processing disorder, autism and asperger’s syndrome, i found myself trying to figure out how my mind really worked. i’d been stuck in such a neurotypical world for so long, breathing air that wasn’t designed for me, and i wondered what my health would be if i could find air to breathe that actually was designed for me?
visual diagrams, i discovered, (along with movement and sensation, i’d later discover) was that air. i discovered this web page, talking about creating comic strips to explain concepts to children with autism, that i thought absolutely brilliant. there’s even a book named “comic strip conversations” by a woman named carol gray. i realized that if somebody needed to convey a concept to me, beyond sending me an email, writing me out a comic strip would be the perfect way to do it, even better than email or writing me a note. (in fact, many of the notes i leave for other people, since i was a kid, are usually heavily illustrated, almost in comic strip format themselves.) of course, who in the heck in this world is going to write me graphic novels every time they need to communicate a concept to me? that’s a lot of work on the part of the neurotypical, and i certainly wouldn’t expect it. i’d be hella appreciative if i could find it, but i certainly don’t expect it. i’ll just fumble along like i usually do.
this might be part of the reason why i identity so heavily with artists, creative people, the world of art and design: it’s a visual language, with much graphic representation. my job, as a designer, is to take confusing concepts and words, and instead represent them with visuals, which i think is a pretty amazing and lucky job to have, if you’re someone like me.
Sounds like a lovely job.
And I am so glad that what you wrote was the path to making it better for a child to understand his mother. That was so great.
I can relate also with the kid, and I guess a lot of aspie’s can.
I don’t get body language or facial clues. You can yawn in my face all night and I won’t get it. lol. I’ve told people for years if they want something, be straight out and say it, that I don’t get beating around the bush. All those subtle clues and allusions to what they really are getting at just, go right over my head. Like a jet plane.