Autistic Language Skills: How Autism Impacts My Writing

You read the title, you know I'm going to talk about how my autism might impact my wordcraft. It’s a recent diagnosis of ASD and so I’m still learning how it affects me, the way I think, and the way I do things.

I think it also shows in my writing. I’ve found writing to be one of my most appreciated skills because it allows more control over my communication than speaking does. I've been a hobby blogger for years but to be honest, I often struggle with my writing.

Here, I intend is to provide you with the best information about the psychology of an autistic INTJ brain. 

I want to create the best articles that I know should exist. I'm still in the middle of learning how to make that happen. I'm currently editing five posts that I want to publish soon. I think I know what needs to be done to have everything perfect and ready to publish. Trying hard to achieve decent is leaving me dizzy and impatient. 

It's a mess. I am feeling the disorder inside my head.

So let's pause and discuss what's going on. Is there an answer to this that I was already given when I got my diagnosis?

Here are 7 fascinating things that my autism changes in my writing.

I write long and complex sentences

This comes from what is known as tangential thinking. New ideas are thought to gets in the way. I don’t exactly think they get in the way, I think they are important and they need to be included.

Generally people play by particular rules of communication; following the first idea to its end before adding to it.

How this comes off in my writing: I write sentences that have many ideas twisting around each other and it is hardly grammatical.

There are rules for how things should be ordered. English grammar needs the subject and the action and the object to be clear. I don't naturally write them in the best order. Sometimes it's hard to tell which idea is the verb or the subject. My thoughts also tell me to write about the action before the subject quite consistently.

I think differently from most people. I used to think this was only because I’m an INTJ. The introverted intuition function processes abstract thought almost all at once like a cloud of smoke dancing in the air. Abstract ideas don’t have a beginning and an end, they just exist as theory detached from details such as timing. So to explain your introverted intuitions, it is hard to put to language.

One of my favourite movies is Arrival (2016). The story is about aliens visiting earth and teaching their language to the humans as a gift and as they learn the language it puts the humans into a new mindset. (As all anthropology should put you into the mind of the ones you are studying.) What’s fascinating about the aliens’ language is that when they communicate something it can be understood from beginning to end but it also makes sense in the reverse. There is, in fact, no exact starting point.

As an INTJ with a feminine charge to my extroverted sensory function or as an autistic who struggles with time-blindness or both, I tend to not believe in time. I know that time exists and that the human experience is locked into a linear path of events but I don’t sense time passing. I don’t think that anyone does really, but for one reason or another some people can be better at predicting what the clock will say if they haven’t looked at it in a while even when they’ve been inside a windowless office building all day.

My point is that it can be difficult to translate my thoughts into a language that has rules written by people who believe in the passage of events being locked to a single path. The order that I naturally present things in doesn’t look like I play by the rules of communication.

Some could call it unique but when it impacts my writing style most would call it confusing. This is something to practice. I don’t want you to be lost in my words, as many people are most of the time. So I have to respect the laws of grammar, and the rules of reporting things in an ideal order.

My article structures are unclear

Usually when I first put thoughts to writing it is not a journey down a nice seaside path. Instead, it is an overgrown and thorny forest with a dragon breathing fire at you. That's a Disney Sleeping Beauty reference.

I always have so much to cut and tidy up to sound like I have a real point to make. And now I fear that it would be unfair to make someone else read it for they will get lost.

This relates to the same point as before about my sentences, but it happens at both a micro and macro level. Ultimately, I could argue this entire article shouldn’t be in a list format. I have used the changes or difficulties in my language as the anchor points to the information, but the reasons for each of these issues are connected. This is to help move things along or else the thoughts would have zero flow.

I think the unsequential view I have of things can also explain why some autistic people have what is called restrictive interests. There is a respect to go over things repeatedly because in each cycle there will be new ideas to add to the concept in our head as it slowly builds from a framework of a subject to a complete knowledge of that subject.

This is part of my information processing differences. This is not helped by being highly intuitive and not having saviour sensory.

As an INTJ, my observer functions are Se and Ni. What this does for my thinking patterns is I organise ideas and abstract concepts while data and measured information remain scattered and I don't link them together. So in recalling evidence to make an argument the data can be included or left out because there is no attachment between facts.

I'm on the spectrum but not the Si/Ne axises. With the other observer functions of Si and Ne, the arrangement is the opposite. The ideas and abstract concepts are unconnected, while facts and data do have a particular way of being organised. Theoretically, people with Si (introverted sensory) are the people who wrote down the rules of language and the people who feel there should be a certain way to reveal information so it’s best understood.

Of course, rules can be broken. Or changed. As long as there is some sort of rule that you are following, it doesn't have to be the passage of time, it can be themes and ideas. To be a good storyteller you have to choose something and go with it.

I use big words

And I don't always know how to spell them. I know how to use them in speaking but again it makes things harder for others to read.

This is part of my trauma the core belief of 'people never believe me.' I wasn't believed as a child when I was scared or in pain. I was often perceived as a drama queen instead of being given help when I needed it. That's a common issue for people whose autism goes undiagnosed into their teen or adult years.

I have the habit of trying to sound like an adult because I learned adults listen to each other. And how do I achieve that? By using big words.

So yes, sometimes I amplify my verbiage to increase perceived intelligence. And I’m not always aware of it.

Of course, I genuinely appreciate the usefulness of those words.

Much of the time I'm not trying to be a snooty-pants. But other people just don't always have such a wide vocabulary. 

It's an unintended consequence that I increase the reading level of my writing and my speech because I think there is a perfect word to describe exactly what I mean.

Feeling misunderstood doesn't inherently come from being autistic. Sometimes it's a result of having no filter on your words and ideas. The neuro-typical way to behave is to regard your audience and present yourself accordingly, not just in appearance and attitude but in the content of your conversation. Neuro-typicals keep things to themselves if they know the listener will not understand the subject, and neuro-typicals use simple words as a default.

The problem with not doing that in my writing is I expect the people who will understand will find the content, but the rest of the people who find this will not be able to read it even if they want to. God bless the holy thesaurus.

I use passive voice

I am an insecure person. It may be my double feminine side at play but it comes across in my communication.

I am not comfortable making claims because people might challenge them.

It's part of the trauma of not being validated. And otherwise, it's rejection sensitive dysphoria. I feel my emotions very strongly and it's hard to come from them. The experience of anything that I don't like needs to be considered carefully including the possibility of a negative comment.

It comes off with a passive voice. In writing, you can say things directly or avoid saying things exactly as you would if you were being outright.

The problem with this is that it invites or leaves room for people to think you're not saying exactly what you're saying. Then you get comments that tell you the exact thing you thought you said as if it was an argument against you.

In being passive you don't allow people to know what you stand for or understand your argument. This is generally a weakness in writing skills especially if you want to be known as the expert in your field.

Changing things into an active voice is good practice. At least I know it's something to look out for and how to fix it.

I write long posts

This is partly because I have so much to say. I almost want to share everything that I know. And I know a lot from the restriction I have on my interests.

What also happens is that when I get into the mood for a particular post I'm writing I can hyperfocus and work on it for hours.

Hours of writing result in thousands of words. I have to edit that and you have to read it. But you probably won't read something that is five thousand words. I have to split up my drafts to go along with each idea. That is often easier said than done.

I want to edit everything at once

My attention is so hard to control. Separately playing the roles of researcher, writer, editor, proofreader, and designer is hard when you are eventually going to do it all yourself.

I need a system for only doing one thing at a time. I need to edit the sentence difficulty, passive voice, spelling, et cetera one at a time. And I need to format a skiable version of the post through bold type and headers as one of the last things I do.

It's so hard to keep to "one step at a time" when something else catches my attention. I don't have a filter on my actions, that's what creates impulsivity in people with ADHD.

The neuro-typical way of making a decision is that the brain will allow for a pause before starting to do something. This is helpful when you're already in the middle of something and it allows you to put the new activity on the to-do list for after you finish what you are already doing.

I believe I qualify for an ADD diagnosis but I'm yet to complete an assessment as New Zealand has another outbreak of the plague. Still, this impulsivity could be very well just a part of my ASD and it is still impacting my writing process.

Again the Se/Ni axis is at play. There is so much to do that my brain is scrambled. Si (introverted sensory has more respect for micromanaging each step and keeping them in a specific order.

I forget to explain what I'm talking about

Some "autism experts" might say I have poor theory of mind. I think there's just so much to get through that if someone didn't understand something they would guess what it means or google it.

Unfortunately, the autism experts might be right. Only a little bit. I have to manually think about what I know and what other people might not know.

Usually, people don't know what I'm talking about. The subject isn't something they have studied. It makes me frustrated because it should be common knowledge. And instead, people aren't like me, they don't google things for the fun of it.

Egotism. It's like when you're on the phone and you think everyone else in the room can put together the conversation but they can't hear the person you're speaking to.

I rely heavily on my intuition and I usually don't ask questions because I am happy with how I have figured it all out. I forget that other people need everything to be explained in detail.

I do wonder what it's like to be neuro-typical. Is it easy to recognise the person you're talking to is confused? How do you ever talk about something you're super interested in? How do you know you can do that and there won't be a problem?

That's why I stick to blogging: because if anyone wants to understand more they are already close to a search engine or they can look at the rest of this very website.

All this to say, I know there are problems and I'm going to figure it out. I want other people to be excited about my articles. It would help to make them more readable. Of course, there are no rules for my own website but writing is a skill I want to get better at.

If you came here hoping for a solution to these very problems then I have a recommendation for you. It's called the Hemingway Editor. 

Are you also an INTJ? Are you autistic? Are you a writer, blogger or content creator? Do you have any of these problems? Let me know in the comments how you have improved on them, I would love to know what you think?