Copying Speech

[grasco]

This is something that i remember reading briefely some time ago about how people with Aspergers will copy or mimic sayings and everyday speech they hear to then say to other people that they meet.

 

So i thought i would share my experiences and say how true this really is in everyday life.

 

Away from work and people i naturally think of my voice in my head as being like documentary commentary and when i write i like to have that essay or nuetral type of view where everything is a documentary.

 

But my work involves working with the public all the time and lots of them are holiday makers that arent from the area that i live and in the seven or so years ive been doing the work i have come to realise and understand more about how i must really "mimic" other peoples dialect rather than actually having my own as such. Like a parrot that although "talks" is actually just repeating the sounds it hears.

 

We all know how ab-lib and casual conversation can be difficult to ASD individuals and its still something i find very very difficult but i find it normal to impersonate the person i talk to the most and becuase of that when i answer work phone calls everyone thinks im the other guy and they all say how much we sound alike on the phone and im sure that that is becuase of my "mimicing" where i will answar the phone the same way, ask the same questions and use the same tone of voice and the same casual speech word for word.

 

When i have to work with people face to face i find that that is the hardest thing of all and i can tell many are thinking and even saying how wierd i am yet what can i say if i am not spoken to directly? Anyway the most interesting thing of all is when people say about my accent.

 

I deal with people with any type of accent and it can be hard but im used to it yet people can never seem to understand where i am from. I have lived all my life in Somerset and have deep routes here with no direct connection with any other part of the country at all. It is very rare for me to travel far and i very rarely have time off yet people have asked about my accent such as is it; American, Irish, Somerset, Northern, Cockney........

 

I have to admit that at times i cant help but notice a little American in my voice so where does that come from? My answar would be my love of films and dramas or documentaries that just happen to be American which is perfectly normal and although millions of individuals watch these things it is becuase of my Asperger "mimicing" that has kind of inbedded it into me maybe.

 

There is more to this but Im running out of space and dont want to bore people to death but its nice to share it thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this.

[av16]

I found this very interesting! A few years back my DS who has AS was often in trouble for mimicking teachers, it got worse when he went to secondary school!

 

He didn't like any teacher with an accent and in an inner city school nearly every teacher had an accent - Australian/Scottish/New Zealand/African just to name a few. He was accused of racism which was really unfortunate and not true; the support of a specialist outreach teacher helped him to stop doing it in class and also made the teachers aware that it was not done with the intention of upsetting them.

 

He is still a very good mimick and often uses different accents, he has learnt that people can be offended and doesn't do it in inappropriate situations now.

 

Thanks for your thoughts!

[grasco]

Thanks for that av16,

 

It is a sad fact that something like this is seen by many as offencive. I have had many situations where i know people are a little takenaback by my percieved impersonation of them when its just isnt meant to harm. You also feel its being seen as a very sarcastic sense of humour when it isnt also.

 

I wish so much i could easily communicate with everyone but i guess its just too hard for some people to understand so they just assume im delibratly causing harm.

[philipo]

This is something that i remember reading briefely some time ago about how people with Aspergers will copy or mimic sayings and everyday speech they hear to then say to other people that they meet.

 

So i thought i would share my experiences and say how true this really is in everyday life.

 

Away from work and people i naturally think of my voice in my head as being like documentary commentary and when i write i like to have that essay or nuetral type of view where everything is a documentary.

 

 

I dont really mimic people but what your wrote about 'my voice in my head like a documenatary'

i can realte to.When I started doing film/video I felt strongly I had to have the sound directly reated to the visual.When doing pop vids I was obbsessed with having the text to the song running 'ticker tape' at the bottom of the screen.When i see moving pictures I hear music and when people are talking to me or I'm overhearing a conversation I 'see' visually the words of their speech inside my head,slightly dealyaed,.i'm also fascinated by key phrases in language and film and reproduce them in conversation.I also write as I speak. x

Went to Scotland last month (brothers funeral) after 4 days iwas speaking quite Scottish.Irealised that it instantley made it easier to talk to em and that I'd done the same in Portugal and ireland and Wales.When I came back from Portugal I was acutally thinking differently after spending most time with Portugese.The mimic thing seems to 'kick in' when trying to communicate with foreign people,This thing about AS etc and communication problems/context/languauge/interpretations etc I think is actually a big plus if you spend time with the 'locals' as the desire to relate can help greatly when looking for words and their permutations ,my crude conversations got quite sophisticated as my brain was doing overtime word association in different european languages. I can still only do english.

P.s I loathe television and holywood as I find the words and the pictures dont match and that the internal visual words the media creates are just confusing poison.

Linguistically I think most people are chameleons,if there's aneed to communicate,most Brit tourist's though just use english,like the waiters and holiday industry workers.

[grasco]

Very interesting stuff there philipo and thanks.

 

I too have found that when talking to Americans i cant help but automaticly become American myself. It isnt intentional yet if i try to stop it i stumble over my words and just look wierd.

[darkshine]

Away from work and people i naturally think of my voice in my head as being like documentary commentary and when i write i like to have that essay or nuetral type of view where everything is a documentary.

 

Quite a few people have mentioned this in the last week and I wanted to share my thoughts on it cuz its suddenly seems a lot more common than I thought!!!!

 

This commentary for me was first noticeable when I was about 14 or 15 as it turned into an evil abuse at me instead of the usual somewhat neutral one of before. So my documentary style narrative tore pieces out of everything I said and did.

 

I wasn't aware that everyone didn't have this (the narrative not necessarily the abuse) until I started asking people - which wasn't until I was nearly 20!!! The people I asked made out that I was schizophrenic - even though I am not and was not - and so I don't really mention it much any more.

 

I don't mind the narrative in some ways, but in a post I made about behaviour and acting, it is this narrative that makes me feel wrong about it, and for me the narratives in my head have been very destructive over the years.

 

I block it out with medication now, so a lot of the time its not there so much and I miss it, it feels very quiet and lonely in my head, but I DON'T miss the abuse.

 

A question I get asked A LOT is "what are you thinking?" and ignoring the many other reasons that make me find this question hard (like not knowing what they mean, or when, or what they want to hear etc) the main reason I cannot answer is because my narrator is not here most of the time.

 

Does any of this make sense? And is it more normal than I thought? And what is it like when the "voice" isn't evil?

 

The reason I ask is cuz I've been made to feel like I'm wrong/insane because of this, and I don't know how to deal with it if it is abusive (if I stop the meds and it comes back)

 

Best Darkshine

[grasco]

I think we all have an amount of the "dark side" within us and i have as well and can relate to the bad voices but they have reduced over the last few years quite a lot. Mainly due to personal circumstances i imagine.

 

But at what point do cynical voices of anger and distrust become outright evil? Who knows? lol.

 

But I do keep everything within as much as i can becuase, again of personal circumstances and the desire to make my mind my "fortress of solitude".

[darkshine]

But at what point do cynical voices of anger and distrust become outright evil? Who knows? lol.

In answer to this question I'd just refer to the dictionary definition of the word, since this is what the narrative did/does...

 

dictionary definition of "evil"

1. The quality of being morally bad or wrong; wickedness.

2. That which causes harm, misfortune, or destruction.

3. An evil force, power, or personification.

4. Something that is a cause or source of suffering, injury, or destruction.

 

I think it is at this point that it becomes evil - when it does all the things listed above?

 

Best

 

Darkshine

[grasco]

But is it not true that to have those beliefs you do not actually look upon yourself as evil but thinking right or doing right.

[philipo]

But is it not true that to have those beliefs you do not actually look upon yourself as evil but thinking right or doing right.

I suppose that when you act upon 'evil' thoughts then they then really become evil,but its quite normal to have 'evil' thoughts,unbfortunatley due to bi polar society and religous indoctrination many people are in denial of their 'negative' thoughts.The world would be a better place if people embraced their 'shadowside',thats the only way they will understand evil,by accepting their negative qualities.

darkshine,writing abot the 'voices' was very illuminating.Whereas most shrinks think of shcizophrenia when people mention voices,its a very different thing when the personal internal voice is used in the reasoning process,i.e.talking to yourself in your head.This is what poets/writers/creative types do all the time,and when they can't do it it's called a creative block.I beleive that asd/as/autisim etc types use an internal voice mechanisism to reason in the same way ,to make sense of the communication.When it comes to evil ,its just the opposite of 'good'.Its a clear tendency for 'normal' people,that word again!!!to react in a bi polar pattern,like when voting.They have a fear of anything more complex than a dualistic reaction ,and make dualistic judgments based on sub concious emotional stuff,rather than sit down and 'think' about it ,using the VOICE in their heads.Unfortunatly for me I hear only one voice in my head.A big difference with 'voices in my head' and mental illness is that the voice in my head never manifests OUTSIDE me ,as a person or object that talks back,I'm sure many undiagnosed people with as/asd/autisim/blah blah spend a lot of their mental energy 'hiding' this internal thought/reasoning process because they think the Doc will say they are mad.

WHAT IS EVIL?Invading Lybia to steal it's £90 billion deposits in european banks so the euro wont bump ? Or the mum who 'manslaughterd her autistic child in south Wales?

None reason and knee jerk reactions that are not thought through are evil,so beware ,as one poster said " we know who you are".

Its easy to cite hitler,but ignoring the needs of people with disabilities is evil,patronising them is evil.

George Bush after 9/11 (see NWA, 911 is a joke)said "you are either with us ,or against us" a typical policical bi polar choice,that excluded any discussion or reason,for/against.....good/bad....true/false....night/day...hot/cold....man/woman....etc Duality of thinking underpins much of our beleif systems ,yet reason says it's simplistic and EVIL.I am comfortable with the dark side....

philipox

Edited July 2, 2011 by philipo

[grasco]

Lets not worry about ooo killed ooo etc lol.

 

Anyway the point isnt about whether anyone has evil voices or not in there head its about hearing things being said and then "photocopeing" it becuase you know its what is used for everyday conversation.

 

But when away from the work environment its like a switch being flicked and suddenly i become robotic in conversation with close family and almost mute where communication seems almost pointless.

[philipo]

But when away from the work environment its like a switch being flicked and suddenly i become robotic in conversation with close family and almost mute where communication seems almost pointless.

A worry i have is that I've never been more calmer and happier when not communicating and really enjoy not speaking or having much to do with the human race.As a late dx job I've discoverd this non verbal person who beleives that most communication is absurd ,trivial and really pointless.philipo x

[darkshine]

But is it not true that to have those beliefs you do not actually look upon yourself as evil but thinking right or doing right.

I didn't mean that I think I am evil, I meant one of the narrative in my head.

 

Lets not worry about ooo killed ooo etc lol.

 

Anyway the point isnt about whether anyone has evil voices or not in there head its about hearing things being said and then "photocopeing" it becuase you know its what is used for everyday conversation.

the "evil" voice in my head CAME from other people - it was all things I heard said and then my mind stuck it on remix and auto repeat

 

Off the topic of evil however... I find this with normal things too, the ways people talk, the things they say, the facial expressions they pull, the manner in which they talk etc. Basically I am a blank canvas in some ways and get influenced by others and consciously/unconsciously find myself doing the things other's do.

[darkshine]

A worry i have is that I've never been more calmer and happier when not communicating and really enjoy not speaking or having much to do with the human race.As a late dx job I've discoverd this non verbal person who beleives that most communication is absurd ,trivial and really pointless.philipo x

I wish that telepathy worked with people - it would save SO MUCH TIME!!!!!

 

I like that you are comfortable with the 'dark side' although what exactly the 'dark side' is would be questionable as you pointed out

[philipo]

It s all communication tools I suppose.Theirs the voice in my head taht echoes,e.g At the shop the otherday the checkout operator said 'get that box' to another worker while I stood in line waiting to buy my porridge.A few minutes later i paid and went home.In those few minutes of queing up after he said 'get that box' the words just floated in my head and I then drifted off thinking about boxes,and wether the word get was areal word and felt uneasy because I coul'nt decide wether 'get' was a proper word.All the time i was internally anylaising it it kept repeating itself ,audio and written script (visually) left to right in my head.I'm so used to this happening most of the time,a sort of echoe.I notice that peoples mannerisms/sayings also echoe and repeat in my head audiolly and visually and i think they repeat because my mind is automatically/compulsivly busy trying to understand/make sense of what they mean.Most of the time the echo quickly goes away as I get distracted by another thought/noise/visual imput.Its a sort of compulsive analyzing of imformation on the world around me using the voice in my head to ask and reason.that voice in my head also 'speaks' angrily,as well as soft and lovingly.When it's 'evil' its ok by me as I know its just part of me thats expressing itself,insecurity,powerlesness,feeling isolated when i really do want to join in and share,

I'm so used to this mental 'chatter' that I've learn to get on with things over the years like family work etc...and accept it.its only when I force myself to relax or stay away from noise/people that this voice(me) helps me be extremly creative and happy and content.I'm sure most people have an 'inner dialogue' but i think that most of the anxiety comes from being unable to turn off outside speech from television,people speaking,sirens ,aeroplanes.I've even stopped listening to music with lyrics because my 'mind' starts storing the phrases and they then spill out later when I talk.The bit that Darkshine said about being a blank canvas is spot on in my life.i do music and film,in order to create my music/film i need to exclude all the garbage and external visual and audio stuff thats got in my 'mind.Using the saying 'blank canvas',i think it really helps me to be a blank canvas,but on my own,otherwise I just end up producing music and film styles that are 'normal',which to me means outdated overused artistic metaphors and significators,but in acutual fact its precisly these 'normal' things which would make me a financial/artistic success.

Telepathy does exist ,it's just society focusses on externalities and language.Thats why I mostly prefer the company of animals.

[darkshine]

I then drifted off thinking about boxes,and wether the word get was areal word and felt uneasy because I coul'nt decide wether 'get' was a proper word.

the word 'get' is not a proper word, along with about a million others - I'm still hung up over the word 'soon' - people keep saying it lately and it keeps floating back into my head at the weirdest times - it even looks stupid!!!

 

This is all just assertion and opinion of course

 

But to me: language is just a series of sounds that signify things. Like the use of "it". It's raining, it's warm, it's dark... Doesn't really mean a thing, but everyone knows what you mean - if you see what I mean

 

I hate it when a new term gets stuck in my head - there was a word used on here and I keep calling my housemates it and then having to apologise when they get peed off after a few days of it - but I just want to say it to everything that they do that is dumb, wrong, annoying, or for no reason whatsoever (I don't say it in an aggressive way - and they laugh half the time too which makes me say it more) there's a few other's I've made up from other words that I rotate - I don't even mean it 98% of the time but just can't stop saying them!!