Do you speak in a monotone voice?

[Autistic Yoda]

Speaking in a monotone voice is a telltale sign of autism, but I'm curious how standard this trait truly is.

 

[NB79]

Yes, when i visited a neurologist, he wrote that i 'had monotonous voice', you don't need a neurologist for that just that he noted.

 

[Cutesie]

No, my voice is "normal". There are atypical features to my speech sometimes, such as speed.

 

[TBRS1]

I was a school teacher for 30 years. In that time I learned how to not do that.

If I stop paying attention (i.e: I get interested in what the person saying), I'm likely to forget to do it.

But there is also my "excited" voice, where I start babeling excitedly about whatever I'm currently interested in. That is definitely not monotone.

 

[Jumpinbare]

I'm also toldI speak too quietly.

 

[Misty Avich]

I don't speak in monotone but I do often speak too quietly where most people ask me to repeat what I say because they couldn't hear the first time. I've always had that trouble, especially when nervous.

 

[DrBadStrings]

Not monotone, but very often deaf to the tone I am using to the point where my work colleagues know when to ask if me if I'm aware of my tone. And in elementary school I was unusually loud when speaking. To the point where my Grade 1 teacher referred to it as me using my "Guy Smiley" voice. He was a fictional game show host announcer from Sesame Street. Then due to a childhood vehicle accident and having to learn how to speak again the volume issue basically went away but I'm still just tone deaf to myself at times.

 

[Suzette]

I don't speak in a monotone. Sometimes though I am asked "What country are you from?" So I must have some odd bits. You might pick it up in my forum writings, as sometimes I say things in an odd order. Mostly though, I am loud. I naturally project my voice.

 

[Xinyta]

I am a odd case. I actually have spoken monotone quite alot in the past. But as I've lived with my Uncle and broke away from isolating constantly. I seem to not be as monotone when I speak. Though I do notice that when I am scared and unsure, I'll speak in a high tone childish voice. Which is different from my typically lower tone voice.

 

[Outdated]

I have superb control and modulation of my voice, far better than most NTs. It's an incredibly powerful tool if you learn to use it properly. Yes, I had lessons when I was young. And my voice never "broke" like I see portrayed in TV shows, when I realised I was able to start speaking with a man's voice I started doing so.

But voice only makes up part of the communication skills needed, human language is quite theatrical and body language makes up a huge part of it.

Sometimes though I am asked "What country are you from?"

I got that a lot as I travelled around my country, Adelaide has a more upper crust British accent than the rest of the country. Where are you from? How long have you been here? Are you a Kiwi?

Mostly from Sydneysiders that struggle to imagine that the rest of the country is not like where they live.

 

[SusanLR]

I guess I do. People fall asleep easily trying to listen to something I'm telling them about.
My mom always said it was hypnotic. Not that it was boring, it just relaxed her into sleep most times.
Same with my house companion. And I've watched a few psyches drift off when I'm talking.
I am good at hypnosis. Should have made relaxation and guided imagery audios and gotten rich.

If I'm on a subject I'm really into and excited about the monotone leaves.

 

[Angular Chap]

I do have a monotone voice, but I learned to mask it. As a child and teenager, I had to learn when to vary the tone to avoid getting into trouble for sounding bored or disinterested. As an adult, I had to vary the tone to stop people asking if I was depressed.

 

[Misty Avich]

I have a male autistic friend who speaks in a monotone. He often talks like "I'm going to go into the store, yes, I'm going to go into the store, yes, yes", in a low monotonic sort of tone.

 

[NDR2]

I’ve probably mentioned this before. I naturally speak in a monotone voice. Apparently it started during puberty when my voice changed. But my speech therapist suggested I smile when I talk, and that makes my voice sound more peppy and “normal.”

 

[UFO]

I got my nickname "UFO" at childhood because "I speak strangely". I don't know or remember (it was decades ago) if it meant that I sounded weird, or if it was that I liked to talk about weird things. My bet is that I had no "autistic tone" as I sure sound normal now. I am more often told that I sound angry or frustrated when I am not, and then again when I actually am, people say that me snapping at them comes out from nowhere without any tell-tale signs.

He often talks like "I'm going to go into the store, yes, I'm going to go into the store, yes, yes", in a low monotonic sort of tone.

I have read that repeating words and phrases is quite common.

I used to know a co-worker, who spoke in a real flat voice, and when he laughed, it was like he had just said "he hee" instead actually laughing. When I asked (and probably managed to offend him somehow, I am bad at judging these things and I really regretted asking such thing immediately when I said it) does he have any diagnosis about anything, he looked puzzled like he has never thought of it - thought I am pretty sure he has had a bad childhood because of his way of talking I liked the guy, he was one of those few co-workers I felt I had a common understanding about things.

 

[vergil96]

Kind of, I think I do, but not as much as Rain Man and I haven't noticed Elon Musk speaking in monotone.

 

[GrownupGirl]

No, but before and for a while after after my diagnosis I had a problem with speaking too loud, especially when I was excited or upset. If you had trouble hearing me, you needed to see an ear doctor. But later I got better at speaking with an indoor voice. I don't know why, exactly. Maybe it was from all the shame and cringe I felt from past experience?

 

[Neonatal RRT]

I am thinking, that sometimes, we are a poor judge of how we sound to others. "I" think I sound totally normal and have normal changes in pitch and intonation. "I" think I speak at a normal volume.

Ever hear and see a recording of yourself? I do, all the time, as an educator. I am looking at myself not believing what I am seeing and hearing. I am like, "Who is this guy?" "That's how I actually sound?" "That's how I actually behave?" I tell you it's an eye-opener. It's then, that the little "light bulb" lights up in your head, and you're like, "Ohhhhhh, now I understand what others are seeing and hearing." I've mentioned before how I will often introduce myself at the beginning of the semester to new students and new employees and I will very honestly let them know and clarify that what they are seeing and hearing is "adult autism". I don't like to be misjudged or misinterpreted as something else.

What I am suggesting here is that in some cases, we can be a poor judge of ourselves and how we are perceived by others.

 

[Misty Avich]

My other autistic friend never laughs even though she's not depressed or anything. She just doesn't have that natural instinct to respond to anything with laughter. She might smile or give a little snort but that's as far as she'll ever go. Nobody has heard her actually laugh.

 

[GrownupGirl]

The best way to know how you speak is by hearing your voice in a recording. When I was a kid I loved using tape recorders, and knew that was how I sounded to other people. A lot of people are shocked when they hear how they really sound for the first time.