Autistic Accents & Formality (The Verbal Spectrum Part 4)... Autism Life

[@lexica510]

I've been surprised (and then entirely unsurprised, upon reflection) how many other undiagnosed AFAB autistic people read etiquette books "for fun" during our teenage years. I had "Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior" half-memorized back then. In retrospect, I think we were all doing our best to "study 'neurotypical'", to quote Hannah Gadsby. Also I think there was a feeling of "if I follow the prescribed rules for good manners, at least I can't be accused of being rude." Didn't work, though…

[@robscovell5951]

Yes. I did this in the 80s as a teenager.

[@Lyandra01]

Yep! And “How to Make Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie.

[@csmatthew]

I’m not AFAB but I never acquired my ‘native’ accent. Realising I couldn’t repeat it without feeling that I may give the impression of being fake or worse, insulting, I grew to accept my place in the world as ‘posh’. I would read etiquette books by Debrett’s and others. Accents and colloquialisms are my life struggle. I have had people assume I am a priest by the seemingly confident and ‘proper’ way in which I speak. Not helpful when you just want to fit in. Awaiting my autism screening

[@Lyandra01]

@@csmatthew I’ve only recently accepted the same of myself! It’s easy for me to unwittingly adopt other people’s accents, but when I try to talk like my family, it feels very unnatural. People often think I’m from England or British Canada when I speak “normally”.

[@vickiamundsen2933]

i WORSHIPPED Miss Manners in the eighties.

[@autiejedi5857]

I was told I spoke like a telephone receptionist at a law firm! I also was accused of mocking people with a different regional accent or one from another country because while speaking with them I would unconsciously mimic theirs without realizing it. Great topic! 💜

[@melvamelendez9817]

Oh gosh... same here for both things.

[@videocliplover]

I’m told I lecture or speak like a professor with the way I talk. I’ve been told that my preferred way of speaking is way too formal for some people. Even when I’m in an IM chat on a social media platform and I use complete sentences as well as proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

[@resourceress7]

Unconsciously mimicking someone's accent and/or vocabulary is very common among NTs, too. In the field of linguistics it's often called "linguistic accommodation." For ND people I wonder if there's also the element of politeness, masking, and/or just wanting to connect better with people through kindness and respect. Okay, that was a lot of different reasons. But that's kind of how I think of it. Besides the fact that most humans pick up the language patterns of others, and shift their own patterns depending on context.

[@Lyandra01]

Same!

[@neurodiversityalumni]

Wow! You hit the nail on the head! Thank you! In school I was accused of plagiarism because my writing was "bookish."

[@j.taylor3670]

This was the "story of my life" to a T. Parents and boyfriends often accused me of making stuff up because they couldn't see it. Most often I was just shied on because they couldn't understand what I was talking about and it made them uncomfortable. Female, where your entire peer support system could fall away on a word or tone of voice. Brutal. Diagnosed in 2021, aged 60.

[@losgann]

Over the years I've modulated from being overly proper to being quite casual. Being Australian, constant swearing is incredibly common and while I still get non-Australians asking where my accent is from, I swear very heavily and use some colloquialisms that I enjoy. The problem I have now is that I'm terrible at 'code switching' and am now constantly swearing and making jokes in inappropriate situations. When writing or typing I tend towards my older style though, which I attribute to the scolding and bullying being mostly for vocal communication and therefore only needed to develop new mannerisms for the always-on mask when speaking.

[@Autistamatic]

Thanks for your comment. The point you raise about code switching is an important one👍

[@DrFalken100]

Mmmm, I totally code switch. I can swear profusely in certain situations. While on the military I had gone off on someone that wasn’t doing what needed to be done. Later there was a “sensing session” in which my behavior was brought up. Needless to say, the Drill Sergeant said they doubted that I’d swear, that I wasn’t that type of person. I guess I was that good at code switching. At the time I was on leave from work. I was a 15 year Teamster at that point. As a truck driver, and now a soldier, I was pretty competent at using colourful language.

[@thekajalflaneur]

Hey! Me too! And I am also Australian! Yeah it's crazy hey, people always think I'm English haha. I guess I take alot of English stuff, interested in royalty and dandyism and all of that. Formality is kinda useful also i find, especially when you look odd like me. Good manners, neutral or easily to understand accents and formality is easy to understand hey. Anyway, hope you are well :)

[@miekevanstigt]

Whilst I completely recognize this, I think there is (at least, for me) another explanation. Since I experience the world and myself as deeply fragmented, I try to establish a coherent view by taking the pieces together. My sentences are compositions and I use my vocabulary and samples from books, television series, films and songs. So part of the sentences I make are references, citations, often from old books or a way of speaking that is no longer current or modern.

[@Autistamatic]

What you're describing Mieke, is scripting which will be covered in a later instalment of The Verbal Spectrum. Not to be confused with "social scripts" which are a completely separate topic 👍

[@miekevanstigt]

@@Autistamatic Thank you! Yes I think that scripting is an important part of my thinking, speech and writing. But I thought of a third element: perfection. Not out of (social) fear, but an imperfect thing is rubbish. If something is not correct, it destroys everything. Therefor I compose my sentences with care.

[@cristinajohnsonmusic5254]

Interesting! I've always been criticized by peers for being overly formal. I don't know how it is over there, but here in the US if you speak too "educated," even in a work context, you will be extremely distrusted and shunned. I don't have the expected "Southern drawl" either, and I've spent so much of my life reading books that that's just the way I talk. Oddly enough, in high school it wasn't uncommon for the quirkier kids to take on a fake British accent if they were really into something like classic literature or theater! :)

[@johnrice1943]

I literally started talking redneck to fit in and be liked.

[@simikatra3434]

This is very timely for myself, I've been pondering this for the last few days, I've been accused of being a snob, I'm far from it, but I am often hyper vigilant with my language use because of trauma around it, I over explain myself and it annoys my adult children, I don't want to annoy them, or come across as lecturing, it's not my intent, I think it's possibly based in the trauma around trying to express myself and falling short. I mimic accents, I enjoy playing with them, I am fascinated by languages even though I really struggled with them, growing up I couldn't read until I was 12yo because of phonemic issues, I've been told I have a telephone voice, but I don't like talking on the phone.

[@kyleethekelt]

Quinn, I had to laugh when you mentioned being thought of as middle-aged while young. So was I. I was also called snobbish, uppity, spoilt (by the head Matron), affectatious (I am still accused of putting on a posh voice when I am with people I don't know, or with whom I'm not precisely relaxed or when I have to have my game face on). It has come in very handy when I worked for NZ public radio, however, and in later life I have received compliments from voiceover professionals. For me, I think it's the literal desire to be correct in both speech and language. Under stress, or over-excited, I mangle words, leave out syllables, smash my words together to try and get them out or speak too fast for many to understand me, so I try to be correct - literally. I was the seven-year-old who corrected her classmates' grammar because I could not understand why they failed to incorporate our new learning into their regular speech as I did. All this content is invaluable, interesting and illuminating.

[@WestchesterWadoRyu]

I love your videos, Quinn. I was only diagnosed at age 50 (2 years ago) and share the feelings you talked about of those in their 60s or 70s who are only just now understanding why they've always felt different from others.

[@lardycake]

100% relate. I am always the most formal/polite person in the room. Interestingly, I was taught growing up that this is the best way to be accepted and successful at work, but it seems like this was actually a NT lie because everybody I have worked with is really casual, including at large corporate companies where you might expect the formal approach.

[@karrenrex]

I can weigh in with another way autism can manifest in formality of language. When I was in school I excelled at learning grammar and applying it meticulously in practice. Most other kids sincerely hated that aspect of language classes, but to me it came naturally and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed examining the structure and learning and following the rules. I loved learning how speech is structured, I loved the analysis, I loved to understand what are the functions of different parts of a sentence and how they interact. To my perception, grammar made spoken and written words respectively sound and look better, but even more importantly, it brought logic and order to the language, which otherwise can be somewhat chaotic. All that was overwhelming to other kids and perhaps seemed pointless to many - they can already speak it, it's their maternal language, then why bother to learn to speak it more correctly? Whereas I went on happily and meticulously dissecting sentences. Following rigid rules may also actually streamline writing because it prunes away unnecessary choices, so to speak, and tells you exactly where to put the commas, for example. Even looser rules have much of the same effect. Those are my thoughts on this. The autistic mind often likes to analyze and understand structure - and grammar is an analytical discipline, which can make learning language correctly very enjoyable and natural. It also provides order, pattern and predictability in language, which the autistic mind appreciates. Even hyperlexia can factor in to this, least of all because hyperlexic kids get so much of their language from books rather than spoken jargon.

[@vickiamundsen2933]

well put! i loved diagramming sentences.

[@benmitchell4425]

Love your work, as always. Very relatable. I was voted "most likely to be a British Butler" in my last year of junior high (English mother, but Nova Scotian father, and we were living in Nova Scotia) and a friend in High School described me as "freakishly polite." That said, my scouser mother (who is also autistic) swears like a sailor and has never been accused of being polite. So aye, it does not seem to be an across the board thing, but seems a pronounced subset of us.

[@Bozpot]

I was teased for being "posh" all through school. I also realised that I have spent many years dumbing-down my vocabulary so that I could be understood. It's definitely time to ameliorate that. Bring on the verbosity!

[@why2goatdagame]

Could you do a video on selective hearing or selective listening? I use to get in trouble as a kid for this & my mom always made it out to be that it was a choice that I didn’t listen. It wasn’t always a choice. Sometimes I would just space out in my brain trying to understand what was happening. Other times I would just drift off because there was just too much going on & I needed quite. I never wanted to not listen to people. It was just too much stimulation or social complications I didn’t understand. That or I didn’t know how I was supposed to respond & to which made me not want to speak after = selective mutism versus selective listening. Thank you for listening. 🙏❤️

[@buttercxpdraws8101]

This is the best channel for late diagnosed adults! I’m so grateful for your work 🙏

[@Autistamatic]

Thank you 💜

[@christabrouwer]

This is so relatable! Though I do use swearwords, especially when having a meltdown.. Everything else mentioned I can fully underline. Am 54 years old, knowing for 2 years now that I am autistic and being diagnosed formally only a year ago. I am Dutch, so it was funny they were used as an example. My son, who's autistic too, talks mostly English and yes, with an American accent, though it's not his native language, due to.. Dutch television :-)

[@RaggyRogers1969]

I grew up with a bipolar father and I developed a lot of polite and meek behaviors to avoid conflict. I find it interesting that it's mentioned here because I'm actually here trying to figure out why people are always asking me about my strange accent even though I've never lived anywhere outside my own country. This is a very interesting subject to me.

[@AidanWightman]

A lot of this makes sense to me. I have never had a strong local accent (Geordie) - but why would I want a strong local accent if it meant impersonating my bullies? My parents do not have strong accents either so I assumed I simply got my accent from them. Years later, I was in a class for long-term unemployed and one of the teachers noted my rather different accent and commented that he thought I was autistic from this. It has a positive as well: I have had foreigners who have settled in the area comment that I have one of the clearest English accents they have come across so I am easier to understand than many around me.

[@ladyvoreva2754]

Thank you, Quinn. As usual, an excellent topic and video. Since I was a little child, adults used to ask me where I came from because of my peculiar accent and the use of words. People used to think I was born in Germany. Through the years I tried to imitate the prosody and way of speaking of my school and college companions and later on of my colleagues, with different results. Sometimes it feels like playing different characters, quite funny, but it can also be a little exhausting. Kind regards from Argentina.

[@melvamelendez9817]

I am Mexican and yet when speaking American English I have been asked where am I from - the person who questioned me remarked that I had a German accent.

[@PixelaGames2000]

I was diegnost with autism sense I was 4 years old. Witch is usually quite rare for women on the spectrum. I was also told that I spoke intelligently, like a little professor, I was also very articulative, and well spoken, I always preferred to use more complex words because I had a big vocabulary, I do tend to use slag nowadays so like gen Z slag (because it’s my generation) but I don’t actually swear, unless you count words like “frick” witch personally I don’t, I do want to expand my vocabulary a bit, so perhaps I’ll just read more and continue to watch shows and movies with good writing like I always do, and of course video games and comics, I’ve always been told that I was smarter or more intelligent then other kids my age, and I didn’t even do well in school because I was severely dyslexic, (I had to get therapy for it) I have mostly concurred my dyslexia tho so I can spell and read pretty well for the most part, the only issue I have now (as you can probably tell) is my punctuation and capitalization, that I still need to work on, I think a big reason why I speak the way I do, is not only because of my autism, but because my family has always spoken to me like adults, they never talked down to me, because they don’t need to, they respect my intelligence, besides I come from a family of nerds, so my quirky/weirdness fits right in I suppose.

[@kathleenmaryparker8662]

I went through a period of speaking "fluent BBC" - and I'm American !

[@Autistamatic]

😂😂😂

[@sophiacromwell8017]

Me, too! (Also American 😂)

[@MeltheThunderbolt]

You speak to me. Many people called me well spoken, or the opposite, they wouldn’t understand it at all.

[@zumza2001]

The bit at the beginning was great

[@RE-kk2cq]

maybe because we actually look up the meaning of words. Which often doesnt help because it makes one realise most people use words wrong, and most changes in language doesnt happen for good reasons.

[@suzettescammahorn563]

For me, the world is simply confusing. I try to be as clear as possible to ensure I don't add to the clutter and confusion. I have heard many coments regarding my vocabulary and speech patterns. My favorite comment came from a cousin; "You are so sophisticated!" : )

[@gonnfishy2987]

Ive had my lived experiences and truths disbelieved as “tall stories” and it hurts me so much because truth is truth... these experiences are formative and describe me as a being nowadays

[@UchihaAlira]

This has been the biggest god send. I was born and raised in England. I have never been abroad and I don't have any foreign relative. But ever since I was a child people have accused me of having an American accent. I was a shut in, and come from a family of cinephiles.

[@jibberoverjava]

Thank you so very much! I've explained this to many who've had complaint with the way I communicate. I feel fine with myself, the way you explained it is exactly what I too have said all along in my defense. I wish I could pop up a digital "agreement" that anyone who wants to engage with me has to read and click "agree" or I'd go no further with them. I'm now subscribed!

[@Sami-yh5nh]

Very interesting. I have a habit of always picking up new ways of speaking, new accents, and never know why. I take it as a kind of play, because it happens so effortlessly.

[@vickiamundsen2933]

i'm an "accent chameleon," after 10 minutes' conversation I start to adopt the sounds of whoever i'm talking to. As a child this often got me in trouble.

[@Autistamatic]

I worked in a b2b call-centre for a while and it was a nightmare trying to keep my accent consistent, talking to people all over the country and beyond every day!

[@vickiamundsen2933]

@@Autistamatic ahahaha me too!

[@videocliplover]

Thank you so much for making these videos on the verbal spectrum as well as speaking so eloquently and being so easy to understand. I feel like you’re talking about me in many of these videos!

[@samanthabeaty4578]

When I was a child I think I sounded rather transatlantic and I got made fun of ... but that same "accent" often emerges when I'm tired or burnt out. I always thought I picked this up because I enjoyed "Nick at Nite"--late night programing the featured shows from the 1950's & 60's. When you explained how all of the formality came about it was a huge lightbulb moment for me. It also explains how all that changed when I joined the military and picked up horrifically crass language and started using cuss words as punctuation much to my horror. I guess I had no choice but to adapt and mask for a military environment to survive. The experience is like being a chameleon.

[@chelly_belly11]

As a kid I would rehearse my vocal tone and technique by singing while mimicking varied artists' accents (still do), and practice my enunciation by reading books out loud, chapter by chapter (now I read silently, unless a word or sentence asks to be vocalised). I engage in witty banter with myself because I am often alone and have impeccable taste. 💙

[@Lyandra01]

I actually was recruited for telemarketing and tour jobs when I was younger because of the way I spoke. Those jobs weren’t my cup of tea… I spent about ten years trying really hard to use simpler words and mimic the regional accent of the place I live, but at this point in my life, I’ve decided to give up and just embrace being different. I’m American, but I’m often mistaken (by Americans) for being British. And I really enjoy using more archaic words because I read a lot of books from the 1600 and 1700s when I was a kid. I started going to meetup groups with older people from a higher economic class, got recruited for teaching position at a university and now everyone just assumes I’m an absent-minded professor type and no one questions my accent!

[@higherground337]

This is absolutely brilliant. Thank you so much for this channel and your explanations. I am starting to understand myself better as an adult seeking a diagnosis. I'm from an area that's known for its distinctive regional accent. I don't have this accent even though my parents do, and when I tell people I meet where I'm from they often don't believe me. I also have an unusually large vocabulary and as a student was asked to take part in psychological research because of it.

[@camellia8625]

I think it is from reading and a preference for listening to more formal radio and Tv shows such as documentaries and news as opposed to more general pop culture.

[@melvamelendez9817]

That is certainly a valid point ...I find myself drawn to documentaries because they satisfied my curiosity about the world. Conversely I never had much interest in the more superficial pop culture.

[@jabaerga1]

Excellent! I self-identified with this one. Thank you

[@WestchesterWadoRyu]

Also, I lived in the UK for two years in my early 20s and came back to the States with a potpourri/"grab-bag" English accent that took me about a year to let go of.

[@vickiamundsen2933]

18 months for me. I still say "Oh, sorry!" like a Brit and it's been 40 years.

[@sherievangelene9045]

Every time I answer the phone I get a long pause, then the person says "oh I thought that was an answering machine.“

[@lycanpawdolls346]

I was often told by peers that I have an odd accent, that they can't place. I was also often asked if I was from America, eventhough I am more likely to mimic a BBC accent when speaking English. I also mimic people's accents, speech patterns, and mannerisms while talking to them, and those might stay with me for the rest of the day. It is something I can not help, and I often fear that people will think I am mocking them. My husband always jokes that he can tell exactly who I have been talking to that day, by the way I talk. I will sometimes also randomly "channel" someone else completely while in mid conversation, just for a moment. By "channel" I mean that I will say a sentence exactly as that person would say it, mannerisms and all.

[@heedmydemands]

Thank you so much for the work that u do Quinn, u rock

[@lyrablack8621]

Fascinating

[@AntiqueMenswear]

Something just clicked...I think I may get tested. I was always told I speak like the Queen, whereas another friend of mine who was entirely English spoke with a very American accent.

[@JamieHumeCreative]

An American accent? I'm Canadian. I find that odd. We watch USAmerican media too and are not so affected. Within Canada there are many accents and this is true of the USA as well. Is that for personal protection of some kind? Your thoughts? Fascinating. I'm ADHD, Dyslexic and Autistic. Living in Western Canada now, I started to sound more USAmerican, but have decided to assert my choice of manner of speech as I feel best suits me. My heritage is UK. I believe in good manners to this day and find it bizarre the difference in what I find offensive and what many NTs find offensive. It shocks me at times. Now following your channel. Excellent work. Found you through Twitter. I've found my people!

[@mavohq]

i was always told that i talked like a little adult when i was younger, either that or i spoke like i was on a television show or cartoon. i didn’t really get along well with other children because my speech was mostly me mimicking my mom and grandparents or things i heard on tv. and because i was hyperlexic i was seen as a showoff even if it was just the natural way i spoke.

[@liljoeyredblue581]

As an autism creature, i have a weird type of accent thats a weird mix of clear-american (the accent CEO office cubical workers talk) and british. Slight austrailian as well somehow. I did grow up watching a lot of brit youtubers so that might be part of it. And i dont speak fully out loud and clearly because im always nervous.

[@jh9391]

Just subbed!!! 🤗

[@myworldautistic670]

Brilliant!!! Thank you!!

[@gonnfishy2987]

I always wondered why this was a thing. Then again i can convince anyone in most english Speaking countries that i hail from the roughest Glasgow or tipperary (When i am not being RP)

[@robscovell5951]

When I was 14 I talked about interest rates and the daily change in the FT 30 index.

[@Monkelightshows]

this was great love the acting XD

[@coreylapinas1000]

I am autistic spectrum and I have terrible pronunciation and kind of sound like I'm from the east coast of the United States or even Dutch.

[@jh9391]

Whoa! I relate! I have ALWAYS been told I talk like a snob or like a textbook!

[@tristantheoofer2]

im actually the exact opposite of that and when i was 13 i fell off the formality rails so damn hard i barely used actual english in type lol. tho its gotten (sorta) back to normal ever since then

[@GrannyGooseOnYouTube]

Something interesting happens to me frequently. If I watch a long video made by someone with a British accent, my internal dialogue will adopt a British accent, complete with regional dialect. This happens with other accents as well. The change in my inner dialogue "accent" can last anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours. What sort of phenomenon is this?

[@climatechangeisrealyoubast3231]

This rings very true for me, tho at one point (as a means of fitting in, masking basically)I picked up slang, and two years ago I learnt how to speak the regional dialect of my region in my country of origin and basically replaced my very clear and standard native accent (but for a different reason, not for masking), where it's basically impossible to speak formally in. I think sometimes this still holds true for English tho as it's not my native language.

[@marcraygun6290]

I am from West wales but have a standard English accent despite while family sounding Welsh, was bullied occasionally for being English, had one girl asked me what public shool I went to in all seriousness it informed her that my dad drove a truck and I went to regular school

[@rashuneknight3939]

I have autism and sometimes I sound like I have an English accent

[@TentoesMe]

I am American. I was out of the country once as a child, and that was Canada and seemed the same to me. Yet people often ask if I am from Ireland.

[@mudotter]

"We were genuinely experiencing things different to others" My life long confusion why toothpaste is popular. I thought people must like pain. Mint toothpaste is one of the most painful, searing hot ,experiences I've had to try and endure, day in and day out most of my life.

[@colmphilpott7696]

To a large extent this is me, though the main difference is my accent, I have the thickest regional accent you've ever heard! (I live in Cork, lived there my whole life.) I wonder is having a really think Cork accent a subconscious way of masking?

[@marcraygun6290]

I worked in special educational needs school, one kid there had American accent but as you hear on Japanese video games

[@thetickedoffpianoplayer4193]

I was obsessed with country music as a kid, which is probably why I have an American Southern accent. It's not as thick as some people's accents, though. I do use big words, though, and I definitely have an unusual speech pattern.

[@DanielRamirez-iq3wv]

Remember the point of these labels is for self understanding, not to place yourself in a box of pathology. There's nothing WRONG with you. In fact, there are many blessings that come with neurodivergence. Don't let the label make you think you're abnormal/wrong/bad.

[@godlymegatron5698]

Simply curious which American accent do you associate when thinking of an American? Country? Street? We have folks trying to sound Spanish and others black. I'm doing a great injustice in simply naming a few. We do have 50 states that could be little countries of their own. Vegas is basically 3 different countries in one package.😏

[@Autistamatic]

Most British people are no better at identifying regional US accents than Americans are at distinguishing ours. I remember an episode of "30 Rock" which made fun of a character's Boston accent and someone else watching watching with me said that they couldn't tell the difference. "They all just sound American". There are plenty of Brits who'd be hard pressed even to tell a Canadian from an American but I'm sure the average US citizen would be no better than my neighbours at distinguishing an Australian from a New Zealander 😉 Every country has an underlying "base accent" from which regional variations extend. It is that base accent which most foreigners mimic.

[@godlymegatron5698]

@@Autistamatic Thank you for your response. If we hypothetically had a variety of Autistics from different countries in one room. 300 total. Then add a few normal folks. 100 total. Altogether 400. Would they be able to tell the difference between our behaviors and accents from theirs?

[@angelikabronner1220]

My American grandson has a British accent he picked up watching British cartoons he's 4 years old

[@milamila1123]

I haven't noticed myself being overly formal in my own language, but I do have a perfect American accent when I speak English, so there's that.

[@dmanzawsome]

In the anime Kiseiju or parasyte these hyper logical intelligent alliens invade the world and they infect the head of a human and then control them. all the parasytes need to learn to speak and they do so similarly to autistic people and an interesting scene in the show has two parastyes talking and noting that they have very different accents. Migi the main characters parasyte learned to speak via language textbooks and online academic websites and learned a very formal form of Japanese. Meanwhile another characters parasyte learned to speak through Japanese TV which has the very over the top vocal stytles of announcers and overdramitic anime characters so that parastye speaks in slang and sounds very different. I do feel like the parasytes in the show act very similarly to autistic people but i doubt the author intended it.

[@mauritsbol4806]

Has it got anything to do with hyperlexia.

[@chatroom101]

Supposedly, a lot of the new york accent originates from the netherlands

[@JessicaMarinaRushie]

I've noticed that quite a lot of autistic people over pronounce the last word in a sentence as if to say, "that's the end of the sentence". I have been trying to find out if it's true or not. What do you think? (Pretty sure I'm not autistic, just in case your wondering.)

[@hufficag]

They called me an "old man". OK so they want me to be juvenile and speak in simple words, I do that, I'm 38, and for some reason people don't respect me. They think I don't deserve to own a car, house and have money, even though I have an engineering degree.

[@tristantheoofer2]

i actually dont even have the whole autistic accent. atleast the formal shit :P really im the opposite and i just use the most informal language possible bc thats just how i am lmao. tho i dont use whatever wierd as fuck slang ppl use. i swear like a goddamn sailor tho (unless im not supposed to in actual formal settings) tho for the accent... idek what to describe it as. like its a wierd mix of like 15 seperate ones, none of which are the standard american one lmao. tho before the age of 13 i had that formality and then it fell off the rails so hard i didnt even type in actual english for like a year.. and i still dont know why lmao. maybe its some stupid puberty bullshit

[@kimberleyedwards833]

Funny, I'm American, and as a child, I persistently spoke with an English accent, no matter how my parents attempted to discourage it.

[@katierose4840]

When I’m not masking, everyone asks where I’m from cause my American accent and rhythm is so textbook and “posh” that they think ~I’m European but moved to the US young and learned classically.~😂😂

[@brianfoster4434]

I think it might be a form of masking.

[@mistertwisty1693]

I also think it's fascinating that I, as an American, cannot hear this dialectical disparity in your voice. And this is most certainly due to me not being as well immersed in the culture that you grew up in.

[@DrFalken100]

I found so much enjoyment copying accents, voices, and imitating sounds. It was an invaluable skill when I came out as transgender. It made having a feminine voice easier to achieve. But proper speech and vocabulary, yes very much so. And names? If you tell me your full name, I’ll refer to you that way henceforth. And I’m constantly questioning folks when they use what I think is “imprecise language”.

[@davestambaugh7282]

Using to many three syllable words will make people think that you are helplessly academic!

[@AeonZhang]

💫🌟🖤🖤🖤🌟💫

[@clusteredspace]

This is flash information i can sound like this and be normal i do not understand why everything needs to be labeled, expect my lawyer contacting you.

[@brettbecomesautistic]

I'm South African and for my whole life people have asked me where I came from, and when I have worked in other countries nobody ever realised I was South African. I have what I suppose you would call a neutral or "highly educated" sounding voice. Large vocabulary, obsessively correctly enunciated words, annoyed when words are changed. My worst is "irregardless" for example. I had no idea that this was an Autism thing. Very interesting.