I was just on a 4 day road trip with 2 friends, and they kept saying 'what'. Finally I asked them to tell me exactly why they didn't understand what I was saying, and explained that aspies often have difficulty knowing the correct volume and modulation.
They said that my voice and enunciation were exceptionally clear, and the volume was right, but what I said was unexpected, so they wanted me to repeat myself so they could try to follow my jump.
So it turned out to be the aspie associational jump. All my asides were relevant, and formed a complete pattern, but I didn't present them in a linear, coherent way. Having me repeat was their way of both checking to be sure they heard me correctly, and also making time so they could try to connect the dots.
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"Yeah, I've always been myself, even when I was ill.
Only now I seem myself. And that's the important thing.
I have remembered how to seem."
-The Madness of King George