Small talk and conversations can be really hard for autistic people. What are some areas you find difficult?
@autism101 @actuallyautistic I tend to avoid conversation in real life. Flight or freeze modes get engaged a lot, and if I've actually tried to have a conversation, it feels like it saps my energy for hours afterwards (unless it's with someone who shares a special interest of mine, in which case it can feel quite energising, especially if they're also autistic).
@FuchsiaShock @autism101 @actuallyautistic As a non-autistic person I cannot fully empathise but would like to know more about how I can help during conversations. I am a teacher and have lots of experience with teens and have learned some strategies but a lot of students I work with are quite high functioning so I don't always know how I can do it better.
Long reply
@jellycrystals @FuchsiaShock @autism101 first up, please note that functioning labels are discouraged as they are typically used to label outside observations of autistics rather than accurately describe their experiences. The current practice is instead to talk about differing levels of support needs. I can see you're coming from a place of support, so I apologize if this comes off as scolding. Thank you for caring ☺️
To get into your real question (please remember I can only really speak on my own behalf), a lot of these are masking behaviours, or anxiety around successfully masking. Helping those is often about feeling free of worry that I'll be judged for certain behaviours. Others are to do with the environment.
The TL;DR is: allow people to be part of the discussion on their own terms, in an environment that adds as little extra stress as possible. I'm happy to dive into some experience I can share, but don't want to bombard (it's already long and it got big when I tried to be specific 😅)
Long reply
@loops @FuchsiaShock @autism101 Hey I appreciate it, not scolding, I knew using the word was problematic but was unsure of what else to use. Thanks for being accepting. Your TL;DR is support that I am doing the right thing in the classroom at the moment. If you want to share with me, go ahead! Thanks again.
