autoresponses.

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i just realized that for the last few year why people i work with always get mad at me for not getting any work done when i work about 10 hours a day. its because when someone calls me and asks what im doing i say not much, even if im doing a bunch of stuff. i dont know why i do this and ive been trying to not do it. part of it is because i really dont know what im doing and my brain is on auto pilot doing work that i am unaware of doing. nobody understands and it makes me so angry when they think im not doing anything when in fact i am. do most people with autistic spectrum disorders do these things to, or is it just me?

My auto-response to anything is to smile or laugh to it. I also say "not much" when I'm asked what I'm doing no matter what. I thought I was supposed to say that.

Perhaps my habit is better in that regard.

If people ask me "what's up" or "whatcha doin" and so forth I usually say something such as "various office-type/home-type activities."

Sometimes people will say "like what?" and I will be very annoyed and repeat "various things" or something like that and seek to end the conversation. I feel it is an assault on my privacy.

Some Autoresponses include

I dont say hi, I say "Hey, hows the day going".
if I dont agree with you i'll say "you keep telling yourself that"
I dont elaborate what Im doing, I say "not much" as well
If someone persists on the subject I say, do you really care or does it matter


In short yes, most of us do. We've just trained ourselves to say a certain line when asked a certain question. Only way we survive in certain situations!

Oh god yesssssss
I haaaaate that question. What am I doing?? Uuuh.. what, like, drinking coffee, picking at my toes, looking for a pencil....
I mean, I'm usually doing SOMETHING. (and not just the useless stuff I just mentioned) But I always say "I dunno" because I never feel like I'm really doing anything in particular. Even if I'm really working on something right then, I hardly know what to say. "Drawing a picture." "of what?" "uh, a person" "who?" they keep asking questions until you have to explain for like half an hour. D: D: D: What does that even MEAN? "Who?" A PERSON, EVERYONE IS SOMEONE, WHAT THE F*CK, AAAAAH.

Ffffff... but yeah. Autopilot. I has it. And I use it. Usually it works okay, but that question is my least favorite.

I have a problem processing questions so answer most automatically with "I dunno."

lol- I had a boss once who always greeted people with Hey!What's the good word?".Even though I knew it was just an automatic thing for him I found myself trying to think of a good word. Lachrymose?Flense?Sedulous?(I'm a word nerd).How do you answer "what's the good word" with "fine"?

Same here, I'll either say "Idunno" or "nothing". Sometimes I'll sit for a second and try to think of how to word what I'm doing, and then realize I'm stalling too long, and just blurt out "nothing".

Of course, sometimes I'll get "You're not doing anything at all?" but most of my friends know better.

Unless I'm actually doing something important where I can't talk on the phone, like eating dinner or something.

I used to try answering these kinds of questions on an extremely literal level, before I learned what was actually meant by "small talk."

The one that still drives me nuts though, is "What are you thinking?"

Yeah, I have lots of scripts that I use, especially when I used to work with the public. Does anyone else go so far on auto-pilot that they accidentally spout out the wrong script for the wrong question. God, that's embarrassing. It happens to me when I'm interrupted in the middle of a deep thought, and I didn't have time to switch gears in my head to prepare for conversation. Then I just freeze, because there's no way for me to recover the conversation after saying something so random, and off topic.

I've come very very close to doing that. I'll line up my "script" to order the usual sandwich, go back to thinking, and then finally realize at the counter I'm in a coffee shop and go "Oh god oh god uh uh" in my mind until I can line up the usual coffee order.

Exact same here.

I often go on "auto pilot" and don't truly interact. Someone can go on about how the rain is terrible and I'll say 'yeah it sucks' in a noncommittal monotone, even though I actually like rain. I honestly don't mean to, but it just comes out before I think. Like I said, autopilot. O_O

Questions like "What's up?" and "What're you doing?" actually have a bit more literal value than other 'small talk questions' - when I use these phrases, I do seriously want to know what the person is doing in hopes that they are doing something that I would find interesting enough to start a conversation about.

If your boss is calling you on the phone and asking what you are doing for example, it is better to tell him what you actually are doing than saying "not much". I totally understand what everyone is saying about habits and "auto-pilot" though - it happens to everyone and the habits that come from it are very hard to break. Even still now after five months of trying to stop, I still subconsciously ask "what's up?" to someone after I greet them even if "what is up" should be very obvious. =S

--R

My auto response when I can hardly talk is "don't care" and "no" and "won't do it".

Lots of trouble with other people who expect a normal answer from me and don't know that I can't give one except for something negative and short that actually has no meaning to me and doesn't explain my opinion.