Not being able to get my words out

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Right now, I'm in school pursuing a degree in Special Education. I know aspies are capable of teaching school as I've seen several posts by some teachers with AS. What worries me, however, is I often have trouble "getting my words out".

Today in one of my classes, we did our usual group work
(yay group work ) tasks and one person from each group had to do a small presentation on whatever topic* they were discussing. Well, feeling a little "brave", I decided to volunteer. Mind you I didn't have time to practice or write out an outline of what I wanted to say.

When it was my turn, it was almost time for class to be over so the professor said I needed to be quick. Big mistake. It takes a while for me to find the right words so going faster was not an option. When I tried to speak, I knew the topic but it was as if all these images and words were jumbled up in my head and I had to grab for them then put them in some kind of order. So what came out was awkward and disjointed. This, in turn, made me even more anxious....which in turn made me stutter even more.....which in turn made my mind almost go blank. Then the instructor kept telling me to move on to the other points since we were pressed for time, which threw me off even more. He then cut me off at midpoint when it was time to go.

My classmates were encouraging, saying I did good and that I got a bum deal having my presentation cut short. But I know they're wondering what the heck was wrong with me. I'm scared to tell them and my instructors about my AS since many work in the school system where I someday have to apply for the position. But at the same time, I wish I could explain that I'm not being this way because I'm dumb or don't know the subject. And what's going to happen when I do start teaching....if I start teaching? God, I wish sometimes there was no such thing as "speaking".




*Ironically, our group's topic was about a deaf girl from Tanzania who never received accommodation at school in her home country. When she immigrated to the U.S., she was put in a school for the deaf, even though she didn't know sign language.

I can hardly speak anything I don't deeply care about. But the thing I do care about, I can go on, very fluently and smoothly for hours.

The solution for me was, stop putting myself in situations were I had to pretend to deeply care about the task at hand.

hehe

Now down to buisness: Has this happened before? If it hasn't then you shouldn't blow it out of proportions, everybody can get nerveous when pressed for time, doesn't mean that it will happen every time. Also I doubt that anyone will think less of you for telling that you get nerveous under stress (You don't actually have to say AS you know, just the symptom which is making the problem)

Anyway it could be much worse; there was this kid with AS on my school who would slam his head against the wall whenever he was told to do something "NOW" because he simply didn't know how to handle the stress. Compared to him you did great.

I can't talk "on my feet". I need to plan out my sentences in my head, otherwise what comes out ranges from gaping silence to disjointed, hesitant stammering. Luckily, I can usually get "give me a moment" out, and most people I deal with are patient enough to give me the time to line my words up. I've learned what questions I may be commonly asked, and developed responses to them that I often rehearse in my head. However, unexpected questions throw me completely. This causes problems in any type of oral assessment such as a job interview.

I can relate to what you're saying. Random words floating in my head that need to be put in order coupled with a good memory going blank are all too common when having to do any oral presentation.

EDIT: And all the expectant eyeballs on me don't help either.

Last edited by SilverProteus on 26 Feb 2008, 11:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

the same thing happen to me. In my class, ,my lecturer ask everyone in the class to read something from a textbook.then she pointed to me to explain to everyone. i went in front of the class, and i just kept laughing nervously. i couldnt find the words to say, i know it is inside but, i just couldnt form a proper sentence.

i know this is hard for some people, i mean i am thinking about becoming a lecturer myself. i guess we just have to practice everyday, and make a brief outline on a piece of paper.

I had to do a group presentation. I got to the presentation about a two or three minutes before it was to be had. I was shaking due to trying to make it in time. I kept trying to calm myself down. As soon as it got to my turn, here's how it went.

"So, Mumbai...err, it used to be called Bombay. That's where Bollywood is at. Err...Boll....wer....ae....." my voice began to crack. I couldn't speak anymore. "Uhh, so that's my ...pres...ent...*voice getting weaker*...ation of Mumbai Theater and movies. Thanks."

If you can catch a rerun of the Mythbusters episode "Mythbusters Revealed", in which they show some of the footage that didn't make it onto the show, you might feel a bit better about not "speaking on your feet", as it were. After all, I don't think anyone could really doubt Jamie Hyneman's general intelligence - but they got a five-minute sequence out of him being very nearly unable to ad-lib (which is a problem, as Mythbusters is almost completely unscripted). Fortunately for the show, Adam Savage is clearly ADD, and has no trouble at all running off at the mouth for as long as necessary to fill in...

That's awesome! I really want to teach either middle/high school Special Ed. or elementary school Gen. Ed., so this is a very encouraging thing to read.


Argh, definitely same with me. I'm extremely hesitant to tell anyone about it 'on the record', because of the difficulties it might bring me in the future. Such is the world we live in.

I have problems with this sometimes- trouble is, there really seems to be no rhyme or reason to when it happens. One day I'll be completely fine with doing a presentation in front of the class (especially if I'm not doing it solo), and the next my math teacher will ask me to read my answer to a question and I'll completely freeze. It's aggrivating, but I'm working on it, and I think I'm getting better. Hopefully. XD


Oh yeah, that's totally me. A ton of people at school probably think I'm a complete idiot, heh.

I am hopeless when it comes to describing or explaining things, I tend to break down into stuttering and stammering. I have no problem when I am reading something out loud, though.

And it's so nice that when in effort to avoid their gaze(which is too distracting), you look at a piece of paper in your hand or down at the floor the whole time, your instructor deducts points from your grade afterwards!




[/sarcasm]

Ignorant instructors.

It's like it's difficult to convey an entire thought process with a simple statement for me, putting entirely too much thought into the implications of my own words. Often I find that if I do just let it out I'll tend to analyze myself in retrospect and feel quite stupid because I missed whatever point...

So generally I stay quiet. Unless the opportunity arises to talk about stoichiometric ratio or......

Prepared speeches / planned conversations mostly go OK because I'm able to visualize the whole thing ahead of time, but when something unexpected happens then I'm a deer in the headlights.

I want to say the "right" word and nothing else will do. I sometimes sound stupid because I can't think of the perfect word, even though I know I'm not stupid.

I'm alright thinking on my feet. Probably, I'm a little worse if I didn't have time to prepare. Speaking in front of people doesn't faze me. I done it so many time at church that it's pretty natural. For me, every thing get jumbled up in my head. Then, I can't say things properly. I mean my grammar is bad when I speak. However, I know and use all the grammar rules when I write. I video taped myself last night and I couldn't believe how bad I was. I was understanding myself; however, I paused a lot and was going all over the place. So, it was hard for me to understand myself clearly. I don't know why I get like that. Actually, I do know. Stupid Autism. Maybe, it's just because when I try to explain something, I don't know how to say it verbally. However, I can write about anything and everything perfectly with everyone understanding me. It takes me a little awhile to figure out how to write it though. Maybe my mind is going too fast for my mouth. I heard that people with ADD, their minds move so much faster than everyone else's. Maybe, I have an extra fast brain with a very slow link to my mouth. It goes so fast that it hits a wall when it tries to go inside that link. When it hits the wall, it get so jumbled. So, all it comes out is fragments of what I'm trying to explain in an order that goes all over the place. However, my mind like to go all over the place. I think by associations. When I do that, I can lose a person just like that because they won't see the connection between the two thoughts.

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/
http://www.speechville.com/