Have you ever wanted to just stop talking all together?

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What I don't like is society's obligation that you talk whenever you're spoken to. Sometimes I don't have my talking circuits engaged, okay?? Leave me alone until I do. But I have an OCD friend who needs a verbal response to EVERYTHING he says, even if that means I have to say "Ya" 8 times in a row! He won't accept a nod; it has to be verbal. So, to keep my sanity, sometimes I refuse to acknowledge his repeated words, choosing rather to answer every OTHER question or prodding "Right?", rather than every, single, redundant, one.

I have 3 main words

Hello - so I can play the stupid hello game to keep people happy even though it makes no sense
(if you meet someone the first time and say hello why do you have to repeat it everytime you meet them again? If you do say hello in the morning how long does the 'hello' last? to the end of the day or are you supposed to say it again in the afternoon? Answers please!)

OK - at regular intervals so people know I am listening to them even though I'm staring at something else

Thank you - when the 'conversation' is over a) to keep people happy as in 'hello game' and b) because they are finally leaving me alone again.

not having to speak to people is such an attractive thought, I communicate so much better by written words than verbal

which has caused problems with the online dating thing cos people get the wrong impression, they think I'm really eloquent and expressive and then when they meet the real life me they can't understand why I'm so weird and unable to communicate


sucks

I get told off for talking too much, but that doesn't mean I'll stop it.

When that happens, I cover my ears with my hands, and I'm disconnected from the world

Yes...because everytime I speak to anyone more than five minutes that's not family...a.I have to define every other word b.I can't find the words to complete the phrase c. I'm totally freaked cause they are standing to close to me or talking too fast for me to take part in any conversation.

Yes.

Yes.

All the time. In high school, I would go for days without talking and no one but my school assistance lady would notice, really.

I've been trying to learn sign language lately and I fantasize about moving to a new city where I can just be known as that "mute lady" without any obligations to explain why I've stopped.

Talking is difficult for me.

Its a terrible idea to stop talking, I did that once and I went through hell trying to talk well again.

I tried to stop talking a few times during childhood. I caught hell for it. I guess if my lifestyle didn't forbid that kind of thing then I'd try it today. I spend a lot of time online with friends. Usually when we're on comms- i.e. using headsets to chat with each other as a group- I listen to what they're saying but I only respond in text. They think I'm weird for it. *shrug* I just don't like to talk. I never have. I only started talking when I was 6...

Actually, there has been times where I've felt like becoming permanently quiet for the main reason that most people often tend to act towards me in a somewhat unpleasant fashion as, I'm not the best conversationist or that at times I have trouble with relating to others in the communication field yet, I still try to do as best as I'm able to though.

I'm extremely uncomfortable talking because it's so much work! I enjoy talking to my AS mom, my NT introverted husband, my AS support group members, and a couple of extremely close friends who understand me. That's it. I can't make small talk because I don't know how. I guess it's because most social talking has to have an element of acting involved for it to be "effective," and I don't know how to fake anything! I'd read somewhere that we should take acting classes to improve our ability to "interact" with NTs in more socially acceptable ways. How twisted is that? At least I feel somewhat more patient with NTs now that my counselor explained to me that they aren't always being deliberately "fake" in coversations; they just automatically absorbed and internalized the rules of the communication game very early in life, and I wasn't able to. It stinks, but it's a fact so I guess I can live with it.

It's not really about being fake, it's about learning how to respond to people.

Deliberately losing the skills to communicate verbally when you can do so will only ever bring you harm and hardship. Trust me.

You're right, Tequila. I don't want to stop talking, but I certainly do get tired from all the mental effort involved. By "faking," I meant that I have a hard time connecting to most people, since I don't know how to pretend that I understand where they're coming from. But since I've learned not to beat myself up over the fact that I'm different, I've been able to begin, if not identifying with them, at least enjoying them for who they are and not resenting them because I'm unable to be like them. This has helped my self-esteem and heightened my respect for others, so I'm getting there.

Matter of fact, I stopped talking for four months straight my Senior year in high school.

I had just came to the point where I could no longer emote what was in my head. It became so difficult to express myself that I fell into a deep derpression. And somewhere between being despondant over the inability to express myself and the depression I was going through, I just shut up one day. And didn't start talking again for four months.

I didn't stop talking completely. But I would only answer people with a yes or no. A grunt or incendental things like telling someone "Quit!" and retorts like that. If i could say it in one word, it would be the only thing I would say. And I might have actually spoke something a total of ten times in that four months.

My best friend and I used to be attached at the hip during my senior year. But when I stopped talking altogether, he got so frustrated with me that he quickly drifted away from me and we stopped being friends. He couldn't deal with it all. To this day I'd love to break his damn jaw. Best friends forever, my ass! ! ! At the first sign of my depression, he ran from our friendship like the roadrunner.

The funny thing is that I'm practically that silent again at this time in my life. I don't have anyone to talk to any more so I find that I really never say much any more. Not that it would help. I cannot emote effectively any more. I continue to lose the ability to correctly express myself.