AS and Talkativness

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I have AS. I go almost completely mute with people I don't know or trust, yet with about 8 or so people that I am closer to, I can talk at length and feel uninhibited. My Dad thinks that this is partly due to my schizophrenia and my mistrust for people/paranoia. Because I was talkative with more people when I was younger. Now I have a group of people who I can talk to but everyone else, no chance.

What do you think?

I have no idea whether this can be related to your schizophrenia, but I'm pretty sure it can be related to your AS. Maybe it's related to both of them?

I have AS and I barely talk at all. I'm the farthest thing from talkative. On a really rare occasion I become very talkative and could keep talking for hours, but this only happens when I can have an uninterrupted conversation with certain people who I find easy to talk to because they actually show interest and understanding in the subject and are willing to talk about interesting subjects. This happens so rarely that people get shocked if they witness it, because they've never seen me talk so much.

I'm less talkative with strangers now than when I was younger, too. I think it's because I've become more aware that others aren't interested in most things I have to say. That and I've become more aware of how truly poorly equipped the median person is for understanding science-y things, on which I spend most of my time. No sir, I don't like it, but I've learned to accept it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ3acvz5LfI[/youtube]

I'm only talkative when I'm discussing something like religion, or politics, or anything else I enjoy researching. So, typical aspieness.

I'm talkative at work or with my friends, but I'm more reserved around my family.

Most of the time, I'm either very quiet or I won't shut up. I am usually reserved around people I don't know well or when I feel anxious. But I can be really talkative with my family, especially if one of my interests comes up.

I am reserved around strangers, but I can be rather talkative with compatriots and family.

I only talk about what interests me. Then I can talk your ear off. Other times, I give one sentence replies.

I talk about things that interest me. Otherwise a sentence here or there but am mostly checked out...

Yup....that sounds like Aspergers Syndrome to me. I'm just the same, and so are a lot of my friends, past and present (which makes me think I've unconsciously selected against NTs for friendship purposes).

I wonder if it's just a special form of the so-called "start-stop" problem, where the Aspie doesn't start a task at all, or once s/he starts, doesn't stop?

There's no stopping me on a special interest, but only with people I know.
Strangers must find me very difficult - but then again, that's only how I find them.
Otherwise I barely say a word.

Nothing new here, I can talk at length about my subjects of interest (though I can be interrupted and I am senstitive to signs that the other person is getting bored) and am hopeless when I have to maintain a general conversation. But I think that is related to the fact that I view talking as a medium to exchange information, not as a way to maintain closeness or convey emotions.

Like just about everyone else I talk a lot about my interests, and talk most around people I know. Otherwise, I don't talk much, or at least I won't until I've been around someone long enough to feel comfortable saying something.

For the most part, I'm a very talkative person. My nickname in elementary school was "Chatterbox".

But there are other times when I don't feel like interacting with anyone at all and I just want people to leave me alone so I can escape into my own imagination.

If I had it my own way, I barely talk. I listen. Unfortunately, my job requires constant communication, but I'm learning to just stick to the prescribed formula, which means I don't have to worry so much about my tendency to trip over words/muddle things up/get stupidly confused if I stick to the accepted script. I dislike speaking, and am much more articulate in writing.