Language
I need extra time to parse language - or give me subtitles, please!
It is almost guaranteed that, if somebody turns to me and says something out of the blue, on a random topic, I will NOT be able to understand them. I will stare blankly at them while my brain replays the sounds as it tries to parse them into words. Chances are, the first guess I arrive at will be perfectly reasonable but utterly nonsensical, which will keep me staring at the person wondering what could she possibly mean. When cashiers ask me anything that is not within the realm of immediate predictability for what a cashier could say, I have to apologize and ask them to say it again - or I stare at whoever is accompanying me and wait for the "translation".
I have an inkling about the source of the problem: studies show that Aspies have a far wider window of sound processing, meaning that we jumble together sounds that occur within up to 0.5 seconds of each other, whereas the neurotypical window is of just around 0.1 second or less (I'll check the source for the exact numbers and post them here). Since asking people to speak more slowly is annoying, and taking the time I need to process speech sounds slows down conversation, I will often resort to simply taking cues from others and nodding or laughing along, completely clueless while my brain tries to catch up with what was just said - or I'll venture an educated guess at what I should reply given the one or two words that I did manage to make out.
Talk to me about neuroscience, though, and I won't have this problem. Predictability is key in parsing language, and the vocabulary in a neuro-nerd conversation is but a tiny fraction of what is said in "real life".
Which is why in my home, all TVs show close captioning by default: that's the only way I can really follow the conversation, especially given the fast-paced dialog of modern films. And, at the movies, my mind was just blown, my world upturned for the better, with the realization that... I can use their close-captioned devices! All of a sudden, there is an entirely new world out there. If only the real world could come with subtitles...
I have an inkling about the source of the problem: studies show that Aspies have a far wider window of sound processing, meaning that we jumble together sounds that occur within up to 0.5 seconds of each other, whereas the neurotypical window is of just around 0.1 second or less (I'll check the source for the exact numbers and post them here). Since asking people to speak more slowly is annoying, and taking the time I need to process speech sounds slows down conversation, I will often resort to simply taking cues from others and nodding or laughing along, completely clueless while my brain tries to catch up with what was just said - or I'll venture an educated guess at what I should reply given the one or two words that I did manage to make out.
Talk to me about neuroscience, though, and I won't have this problem. Predictability is key in parsing language, and the vocabulary in a neuro-nerd conversation is but a tiny fraction of what is said in "real life".
Which is why in my home, all TVs show close captioning by default: that's the only way I can really follow the conversation, especially given the fast-paced dialog of modern films. And, at the movies, my mind was just blown, my world upturned for the better, with the realization that... I can use their close-captioned devices! All of a sudden, there is an entirely new world out there. If only the real world could come with subtitles...
Language as pattern: piece of cake |
Language as social glue: not so much |
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Music is sound with any type of recognizable structure that becomes pleasurable exactly because there is a pattern to be found. And more: in music, there are patterns within patterns, melody (the what of sound) and rhythm (the when of sound) that play with each other, sometimes moving in synch, others by themselves, but always scurrying along and defying the mind, daring the brain to predict what comes next. Like a game of roulette, the joy lies in that fine balance of unpredictability: a prize too predictable is boring; a prize too rare is frustrating.
Realizing that we are very good at "getting" the music - understanding the logic of the hand shapes on the guitar, a chord progression, the intervals in a melody - makes playing easy and fun. Mastering those patterns as we practice them is part of the game. But musical heaven is realizing that you can play along by just listening and jumping in. When we "get" each other's music, we feel we belong. Improvising on the bass to friends playing on guitar and drums is one of the most pleasurable experiences of my life. Likewise, learning other languages is a delight, since the challenges of figuring out the patterns in the sounds that make the words, the melody of the language spoken by natives, and the logic of grammar and vocabulary are all sweet invitations to my Aspie mind. |
...but when it comes to understanding how people use the words to mean something else other than their exact, conventional meaning, I'm at a loss. I only identify sarcasm when the melody of the voice makes it blatantly obvious that the speaker means the opposite of what they actually said. I'll fall for subtle sarcasm every time. Frankly, I find it exhausting to be in the presence of people who speak sarcasm as a first language. Sarcasm is aggressive, and only works as banter when two people speak the same language. The Aspie here just feels left out of the conversation.
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