Do Your Words Get Stuck?

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Those of you who have seen my thread on going semi-verbal know that I've been allowing myself to forego speech in lieu of writing or AAC as needed. One reason I decided to do this was because very often, my ideas get "stuck" in my head and I can't get them out using words. I think in pictures, and as such, have to translate the thoughts in my head into words before I can convey them. Often times this translator gets "jammed", and I'm left hanging mid-sentence, picture clear as day in my mind, with zero idea of what my next word should be. I've noticed that when I get stuck on a word, I'll hold my breath, like I'm saving it for when I finally find the word I'm looking for. This wouldn't be a major concern, except that it can take anywhere from thirty seconds to a minute for me to pull the word out, and I'll just be sitting there not breathing the entire time!

Even when I have the words I want, I often speak very slowly, and pause after each word, so. It. Kind. Of..... Sounds like. This. I have no idea why this happens, because when I'm talking about my special interests, I can speak so fast that I trip over my words and people can't understand me. This issue seems to be getting worse with age. I've never been one to talk a lot; my whole life people have referred to me as "quiet" and "shy", and even as a kid I was fascinated by mutism and the idea that people could communicate without speaking, but these days producing words seems to be getting harder and harder. Do any of you experience these sorts of things? I'm going to ask my speech therapist about it in a couple of days, but I wondered how common this was in the otherwise-verbal autistic population.

Yep, I have the whole translating from pictures to words thing. I've always thought of it too, as a gate between my brain and my mouth. Usually it's open and I have little trouble speaking. But sometimes in situations such as trying to describe a memory, the gate is open only a little, or sometimes completely shut. It's really frustrating at those times.

Not being able to translate thoughts into words is the crux of nonverbal autism. Some people don't understand how I can be articulate in writing and yet not able to converse verbally. But of course typing slowly taking my time is a lot different.

But I have always been able to manage by making gestures and texting to get by. And occasionally using ACC.

I don't know what to say about becoming more nonverbal later on in adulthood. Like what exactly the neurological cause would be.

Part of my issue is starting out with classic severe nonverbal autism. But also my dyspraxia affects my speech. And then there's also the psychological aspect of selective mutism.

I often have difficulties explaining things. My vocabulary isn't very good, I tend to use easy words. But even when typing here I can't always explain myself. That's why I sometimes don't reply back to my threads, because if I feel outsmarted or something, I find it difficult to get my point across.

Yes, in more ways than one, and not just about speech. Just verbal in general, both spoken and written.

In my case it goes like this;
Temporarily forgetting the word, chose not to attempt to go for it and make recall much later on.
Forgetting the word and play reckless -- disregarding the outcomes; the confusions and possible misunderstandings.
Or, neither -- because even if I did find the word, how well am I going to use it even if I do have all the time in the world to get it right?
Do recall the words, yet use it recklessly. It's like gambling really.
Or, do have the words, yet ending up playing cautious and decided not to say it until either I'm certain enough or become reckless enough to use those words and how it is conveyed.

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I have a good vocabulary, but I tend to get brain freeze. I will forget the precise word I want to use. Sometimes, the word I use is similar in meaning, but not quite accurate.

A very similar thing happens to me.

I have a GRE-level vocabulary----but I sometimes can't pronounce certain words I know well in my mind.

My words get stuck during a shutdown or extreme burnout, but not for the reason you describe. I'm extremely verbally-minded. When I read, my mind produces very few images, and my thoughts are typically all verbal, unless I'm being consciously immersive. I guess the way to describe my difficulty speaking on rare occasions would be that there is a pipe through which verbal thoughts are filtered to my mouth and the pipe feels "clogged." My verbal train of thought becomes backed up, too, and the processes that are typically fluid become painfully slow.

Oh - a good way to describe it would be when you're writing an essay, and you know there's a word in your memory for this meaning you have in your head, but it won't come to the front of your mind. You sit there staring at the page, trying to tease the memory loose without success. You're sure that it's there, and it's the most frustrating thing being unable to pull it forward. For me, going semi-nonverbal is that feeling, but for every word I have to speak. It's exhausting but quite uncommon apart from deep shutdowns.

^^Yep. That happens to me, too.

Yes, when I attempt to tell a longish story or joke in person, it tends to create a 'amateur juggling' effect in my mind, where I will trip over my words and generally sound rather incoherent. I can also suffer from stuttering; there was an occasion in primary school when the teacher asked pairs of students to take part in a mental arithmetic contest at the front of the classroom - she would ask us to give the answer to a sum ("six times seven" for example) and whoever got it first won a point. I did pretty badly at it due to the answer not properly coming out of my mouth, even though my brain knew the answer almost instantly.

This definitely happens to me. Sometimes I'll just be chatting along at a mile a minute on a topic I'm very familiar with and then a word just... isn't there. I know I know the word--heck, I was probably using it recently--but it isn't available to me at that moment. I pause for a moment, and sometimes I find it. Other times I have to rephrase awkwardly around it to keep moving.

I think I don't so much do the slow-talking-with-lots-of-pauses from the initial post, though. I only notice that when I'm trying to explain a genuinely complex concept precisely in a context I haven't really thought through before.

Yes, this sounds a lot like me. I can write much more easily than I can speak because then I have the time to translate the pictures in my head into words. I only have fluent conversations out loud if I've had the conversation before, or if I anticipated it and practiced ahead of time.

I do not think in pictures - in fact, I am aphantasic (I cannot see pictures in my mind at all). I am a logical thinker (that is, mathematical thinker who thinks in patterns and systems). I still need to translate my thoughts into words though. And that translation is slow and constantly glitching. Writing, instead of speaking, helps to keep the translation in sight because it will not stay in mind when I get stuck on a word.

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31st of July, 2013
Diagnosed: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Auditory-Verbal Processing Speed Disorder, and Visual-Motor Processing Speed Disorder.

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