Am I scripting?
So my sister is Autistic. To my knowledge, I'm broader autism phenotype. As life has gone on, I've noticed more and more autistic like characteristics in myself. Now I'm wondering if I script? Whenever I'm really happy and she or my mom, or someone I'm comfortable with says a line, I pull a song it comes from and say or sing the line. It doesn't feel like an OCD compulsion (I also have OCD) - there's no anxiety involved - but I still feel pretty compelled to say them.
Complicating characteristics are that I also am generally pretty hypomanic when this is happening. (Sister also has bipolar, I don't...but kind of like I'm in the grey area of not quite autistic, I'm also in the grey area of not quite bipolar.)
I don't know, y'all - is this scripting? My sister thinks maybe, but neither of us are sure...
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I'm BAP and a big sister to an Autistic woman. We made some websites to help kids on the spectrum and parents understand autism in a positive way: http://www.teachmeaboutautism.com/
What you are doing is similar to how BAP is related to autism. Is it the same trait? Probably. But in that measure, with the low amount of intensity to which you are referring, its not really full scripting. Its not creating a situation where it's hard for you to get your point across because you only have scripting to use in communicating.
I do the same thing. When I was in a relationship, and I wasn't diagnosed with aspergers yet, I kept telling people that I was having a terrible time because I was "off script" and "I don't have a script for what to do now." I didn't know I was using a technical term. But usually, its just that I quote movies and such WAY more than average. In fact, some people have caught me quoting movies when I didn't know I was doing so. And just the other day, I was watching Peter Pan, the cartoon, and discovered some distinctive phrases that I use all the time. I must have started scripting them way before I was able to identify that as a thing.
I thought scripting was when you always say the same line to a certain question like
"What's up?"
You: Not much. You?
*The person responds and you say nothing else.*
"How's the weather?"
*Says what the weather is outside. If it's raining, you say "rainy." If it's cloudy, you say "cloudy" if it's sunny out but cold, you say "Sunny and cold" if it's ho out, you say "hot." You get the picture?*
*someone tells you their sad news*
Your normal response as usual to these things "Oh that is so sad, I'm sorry to hear that."
I am sure everyone scripts to a degree but ASD people have to do it more because they often don't know what to say.
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Son: Diagnosed w/anxiety and ADHD. Also academic delayed and ASD lv 1.
Daughter: NT, no diagnoses. Possibly OCD. Is very private about herself.
"What's up?"
You: Not much. You?
*The person responds and you say nothing else.*
"How's the weather?"
*Says what the weather is outside. If it's raining, you say "rainy." If it's cloudy, you say "cloudy" if it's sunny out but cold, you say "Sunny and cold" if it's ho out, you say "hot." You get the picture?*
*someone tells you their sad news*
Your normal response as usual to these things "Oh that is so sad, I'm sorry to hear that."
I am sure everyone scripts to a degree but ASD people have to do it more because they often don't know what to say.
Agree. This is normal, neurotypical scripting. Autistics have a hard time going off script. So it looks like
How are you?
I'm fine. How are you?
No really. How ARE you?
Ummm.... (brain short circuit.)
"What's up?"
You: Not much. You?
*The person responds and you say nothing else.*
"How's the weather?"
*Says what the weather is outside. If it's raining, you say "rainy." If it's cloudy, you say "cloudy" if it's sunny out but cold, you say "Sunny and cold" if it's ho out, you say "hot." You get the picture?*
*someone tells you their sad news*
Your normal response as usual to these things "Oh that is so sad, I'm sorry to hear that."
I am sure everyone scripts to a degree but ASD people have to do it more because they often don't know what to say.
Agree. This is normal, neurotypical scripting. Autistics have a hard time going off script. So it looks like
How are you?
I'm fine. How are you?
No really. How ARE you?
Ummm.... (brain short circuit.)
So why wouldn't you actually say something about yourself? When someone asks you how are you, saying I'm fine once is okay. But if they ask it again or ask something else, you should say a little bit about the week or say how you're doing that's more descriptive than I'm fine.
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You scored 62 aloof, 49 rigid and 81 pragmatic - language differences
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 59 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 148 of 200
EQ = 50
SQ = 37
AQ = 22
You are very likely neurotypical
Obviously. But it takes us a while to figure out which of the thousand things that happened that week you'd like to know about. And which ones are socially acceptable to mention. And which ones won't bore you, or make you think we're weird, etc. We have a lot of interests and concerns that most other people don't have, so it's sometimes an effort to say something that the other person can relate to. And god knows the effort to relate always has to be on our end, doesn't it?
"What's up?"
You: Not much. You?
*The person responds and you say nothing else.*
"How's the weather?"
*Says what the weather is outside. If it's raining, you say "rainy." If it's cloudy, you say "cloudy" if it's sunny out but cold, you say "Sunny and cold" if it's ho out, you say "hot." You get the picture?*
*someone tells you their sad news*
Your normal response as usual to these things "Oh that is so sad, I'm sorry to hear that."
I am sure everyone scripts to a degree but ASD people have to do it more because they often don't know what to say.
Agree. This is normal, neurotypical scripting. Autistics have a hard time going off script. So it looks like
How are you?
I'm fine. How are you?
No really. How ARE you?
Ummm.... (brain short circuit.)
So why wouldn't you actually say something about yourself? When someone asks you how are you, saying I'm fine once is okay. But if they ask it again or ask something else, you should say a little bit about the week or say how you're doing that's more descriptive than I'm fine.
Because that involves thinking on the spot, and going off-script, which usually either doesn't happen or goes wrong.

"What's up?"
You: Not much. You?
*The person responds and you say nothing else.*
"How's the weather?"
*Says what the weather is outside. If it's raining, you say "rainy." If it's cloudy, you say "cloudy" if it's sunny out but cold, you say "Sunny and cold" if it's ho out, you say "hot." You get the picture?*
*someone tells you their sad news*
Your normal response as usual to these things "Oh that is so sad, I'm sorry to hear that."
I am sure everyone scripts to a degree but ASD people have to do it more because they often don't know what to say.
Agree. This is normal, neurotypical scripting. Autistics have a hard time going off script. So it looks like
How are you?
I'm fine. How are you?
No really. How ARE you?
Ummm.... (brain short circuit.)
So why wouldn't you actually say something about yourself? When someone asks you how are you, saying I'm fine once is okay. But if they ask it again or ask something else, you should say a little bit about the week or say how you're doing that's more descriptive than I'm fine.
Because you have all these thoughts in your head and it gets overwhelming to say them all and put them in order. Plus it catches you off guard and if you were prepared to say more, you would have already thought before of what to say if the person asks you that but you were not expecting it. I honestly don't know if this is the anxiety or the ASD or just social awkwardness.
_________________
Son: Diagnosed w/anxiety and ADHD. Also academic delayed and ASD lv 1.
Daughter: NT, no diagnoses. Possibly OCD. Is very private about herself.
Scripting is when you say something on certain occasions, and there's no variation in what you say, and it occurs on a consistent basis, without much forethought from the person doing the scripting.
But, when I get the repeated question as used before I never know what to say because I'm fighting to figure what is socially appropriate or avoid the info dump.
_________________
Diagnosed April 14, 2016
ASD Level 1 without intellectual impairments.
RAADS-R -- 213.3
FQ -- 18.7
EQ -- 13
Aspie Quiz -- 186 out of 200
AQ: 42
AQ-10: 8.8
I do the same thing. When I was in a relationship, and I wasn't diagnosed with aspergers yet, I kept telling people that I was having a terrible time because I was "off script" and "I don't have a script for what to do now." I didn't know I was using a technical term. But usually, its just that I quote movies and such WAY more than average. In fact, some people have caught me quoting movies when I didn't know I was doing so. And just the other day, I was watching Peter Pan, the cartoon, and discovered some distinctive phrases that I use all the time. I must have started scripting them way before I was able to identify that as a thing.
Yup, that sounds right, another one of those instances where I have my sister's same traits but at a lower intensity! Because it doesn't feel like typical movie quoting that most NTs do...it feels more like it HAS to come out, you know? But again, I'm also hypomanic at the time, so that might be another explanation for why it feels like I need to blurt it out.
Also, lol, literally trying to post right now
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I'm BAP and a big sister to an Autistic woman. We made some websites to help kids on the spectrum and parents understand autism in a positive way: http://www.teachmeaboutautism.com/
And yeah, I do both. Pretty consistently on phrases. Like every single time (and it's almost daily) that my sister says "Did you know that I..." I always have to sing or say did you ever know that you're my hero. It's not a lack of my own ability to communicate otherwise, though, so not really scripting now that y'all have helped me sort it out. Maybe just what NTs do with lines but to a more extreme extent due to the hypomania?
_________________
I'm BAP and a big sister to an Autistic woman. We made some websites to help kids on the spectrum and parents understand autism in a positive way: http://www.teachmeaboutautism.com/