Trouble with Text

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I was emailing a famous pen-pal of mine, and when she didn't want me to do something she used the phrase, "Maybe later". Being my literal self, I took this as very much meaning, "Not now, but later for sure!" I then responded asking when, and she said eventually, "What I meant was, I didn't want you to do that." She seemed frustrated with me the way she phrased it (I have not copied word for word) but it's so hard to tell.

I love the internet. I probably would be doing far worse socially without it. Yet I have (seemingly) extreme difficulty interpreting text. At times, I find that I take everything as an attack! It's like I can't understand text at all, half the time...or at least, the emotion behind it. It does seem to be far harder for me than say...a neurotypical.

Is this common for people with Asperger's? Or am I the only one who has this challenge?



-Mallory

It is a common problem for Aspies. We have difficulty "reading between the lines" of what people write. Sometimes they hint at something without being blatant for fear of being seen as offensive. However, subtlety is often lost on us. Personally I prefer people to be direct and to the point so there is no chance of misunderstanding. I hate having to try to decode what people have written for hidden meanings.

I've heard the internet described as "enforced Asperger's."

I'm very good at ''reading between the lines''. I text all the time.

I had no idea "maybe later" meant "never." You learn a lot online.

I hate texting because I see no need for it and it's annoying and I don't like using the keypad.

Would hearing those words be any different if you heard them in real life than through text? Would you not take it literal then?


Oh yeah "Internet Asperger's" is also the term lol.

Texting is no different for me than speaking to someone face to face, since I can't read the inflection in someone's voice either way.

I hate iterations of "maybe" or other terms used to indicate uncertain outcomes, because without an explanation as to why one doesn't know (and I'd prefer they just say "I don't know" instead of "maybe") I don't have any idea what they actually mean - do they mean "No, but I don't want to say it?" Do they mean, "I need to ask someone else?" or "I need to check money/gas/etc to see if I can afford to participate?" Do they mean "I can't make a decision until I have information that is not yet available to me?"