Does this make sense at all? In my head, it’s the most clear. When written, I feel like I’m not able to fully express what I’m thinking. When speaking, it’s like fucking Russian roulette and can be wonderfully put together and eloquent or stroke-like.
Is there any way to improve this or is it just the way my damn brain works?
Curious to know if anyone’s found a way to adress this as well. I’m ADHD and I’m constantly tripping over my words. I’ll either have a perfectly clear thought and just be incapable of articulating it or I’ll forget what I was going to say halfway through. It’s almost like I have a stutter or something and it’s definitely gotten worse over the last few years. I don’t remember having this problem pre 2021-2022ish. Writing is similarly bad for me, but I have an opportunity to edit and focus on what I’m doing so it usually comes out alright.
I wish I had an answer for you OP but hopefully it brings some comfort to know you’re not alone
It’s so fascinating, docs have had a hard time diagnosing me with autism or ADHD so I think there’s a point on the spectrum where neurotypes overlap? I truly believe we haven’t found the best way to categorize our brains and neurotypes are the best thing we’ve found so far
I will also add, anytime I try to describe this phenomenon to others in my life, they usually just tell me that it’s anxiety. But idk that seems…reductionist?
Ngl, I suspect that I might be a little AuDHD but diagnosis is expensive. There’s also some overlap in symptoms and presentation between the two so we may just have this in common despite being different flavors of neurodivergent. With the categorization part, I think the anxiety thing is a bit reductive, or maybe backwards? Like, yeah I have anxiety for a lot of reasons. One of those reasons is that whenever I talk a mess of unintelligible nonsense comes out. My anxiety doesn’t make me do that, it’s the fact that I do that makes me anxious.
And just to speculate on the categorization part, I agree. I think part of it is just that the neurotypical mind is already impossibly complex and difficult to categorize. When you throw the added layer of atypical thought patterns and behavior in, the complexity is multiplied. I also think that qualified neurodivergent people haven’t been leading the charge on the study of our minds is another issue. There are some aspects of our conditions that are nearly indescribable within ourselves, to people similar to us, and particularly to neurotypical people. If there were a greater neurodivergent presence within this area of study, I feel like they would be best equipped to determine where efforts should be focused
Is there any way to improve this
yes! more reading, more writing. in my experience I encounter turns of phrase and ways of expression that fill my toolbox
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It’s like getting a crystal clear image of a schematic with everything laid out, but then I have to do the human equivalent of translating it into binary so it can be perceived at low resolution by others
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One of the best explanations for how I feel that I’ve ever come across
Something I’ve noticed is this problem goes away when I’m talking about something technical, or within my “special interests”. But then I fall apart if I’m trying to do something like summarize a movie or explain how I feel. If I’m explaining something like polyploidy in plants, my speech becomes fluid and I’m able to adjust my vocabulary/rhythm for the audience. If I want to talk about the movie I saw a couple hours ago, it’s hopeless.
Like with every other autistic trait, it’s a human brain thing that just tends to have different patterns with autistic people. Neurotypical people also have the experience of not being able to express themselves, but I think being better with social cues/nonverbal communication helps them fill in the gaps. And they usually get a lot more practice.
But it’s extremely annoying and gets in the way of building any relationships. Therapy has definitely helped.
I’ve had so many instances where my poor intonation and tone ruin the thought. The focus on how I say something is what matters in the end unfortunately. I’m sure this hits home for a lot of NDs
I think this might be a sign to start masking again and deal with the ensuing burnout later
I think my experience is somewhat related, although from the opposite end - all of my thoughts exist as language and I really struggle with ideas that aren’t already “spoken” in my mind. I was completely unable to mentally picture anything in my “mind’s eye” before my head injury, I had to describe images to myself using language! Somehow my TBI gave me the ability to mentally picture images if I really focus on it, but it’s still very hard for me and much easier to just narrate.
Only ADHD, but I routinely run into a tip-of-my-tongue moment where I can’t recall the word I’m looking for right in the middle of a sentence. I’m also pretty trash at properly enunciating while talking, so a lot of my sentences will end on the wrong cadence and people around me take a second to realize I finished it.
I’m not sure there’s a fix for any of that, and I’m pretty sure I don’t have a degenerative brain disease or something that’s actually the root cause.
(Also ADHD, maybe undiagnosed autism) This is so relatable, I’ve been getting very good at restructuring sentences mid-speech because I forget the exact word I’m looking for. Either that, or my brain hyperfixates on remembering the specific word I was looking for and I interrupt myself to try and get my conversation partner to help me remember the word I was looking for.
The middle of a sentence is where speech goes to die.
