Do you talk with your hands?

[DogwoodTree]

I suspect this is a very non-aspie trait, but thought I'd check.

If I'm talking with someone where I'm saying more than just a few words at a time, I talk with my hands, almost like a made up sign language.

We've always used some baby sign language with the kids, but our youngest (3.5) is the only one who really took ownership of it. He's being slow to develop understandable spoken language, even though he's speaking in complete sentences (as his pronunciation gets better, we're finding he uses very well-formed sentences!). It's just really hard to understand him because he doesn't use many consonants at all.

However, he IS very communicative and makes up some elaborate and intuitive signs for the things he wants to tell us about.

Does anyone else complement your speech with hand signs?

 

[wyverary]

I don't think I could dignify them with the name "signs," as it's more random gesturing. But I do tend to randomly gesture quite a lot when I am speaking. My customers must think I'm nuts.

 

[Daniel]

I haven't noticed myself doing it lately, but I tend to use my hands a lot when I speak. I started catching myself because my supervisor at my old job and my therapist would both break eye contact and start watching my hands while I'm talking.

If I were to describe the hand movements, it's like I'm a conductor during a quiet piece of music.

 

[stanmgk]

I use my hands a lot when speaking, but my gestures are always confuse. Some times, I even gesticulate while thinking, to emphasize something in my head.

 

[Kari Suttle]

Only when i'm anxious or overwhelmed and trying to tell someone something yet can't get the right words for it. Other than that, not really. But when i do its embarrassing cause i'll be stumbling over what i need to say to get my point across. I did it a week or so ago with one of the upper assistant managers at my workplace and THAT was the worst. 0_o He seemed okay with it though. I think.

 

[May Black]

Me and my boyfriend use hands a lot when we talk to each other, happy shaking, penguin flapping, they all mean things. The other day I did a happy shake when were going through our new menu and there was a word I hadn't heard of before, chiboust. I love new words. My coworks were less than impressed by me shaking my fists.

 

[AsheSkyler]

A LOT of people can't talk without their hands. It's one bit I like to see when stand-up comedians work it into their routine and talk about people with their constant gesturing and how some gestures seem to be country specific (Russell Peters had a great bit about one Italian and India gesture that had two totally different meanings). It can be hilarious to watch when they're on a cell phone. What benefit does it do to point when giving directions over the phone? Eh, I'm quite guilty of all of it, it's like it helps me physically arrange my thoughts. And like stanmgk, I gesture when thinking to myself. People around me have found it quite entertaining when I start telepathically talking to myself. Everything is there but the sound and mouth movements!

As far as very specific signals akin to sign language, no, I don't think that's quite as common.

 

[Shawn D]

My husband makes fun of me sometimes when I gesticulate wildly when I talk. He says "jazz hands" and mimics me.

 

[Spiller]

I read somewhere that Aspies have childlike emotions that, unlike NT's we don't learn to regulate in an adult manner and, like children, we then wave our hands and arms as we get more excited.
This fits me, as I get more excited in conversations I'm interested in.. and as I get more excited my hand gestures become more expansive; when people start watching my hands, I then realise what I'm doing and sit on them.
Many people use hand gestures, but i have observed a 'normal' limit.

 

[Zjezdzaj]

Haven’t put much thought in to it since my hands are always kinda spastic but now that you mention it…
I gesticulate wildly, e.g. point with the whole arm and some of the upper body, clench and unclench my hands, clap my hands together, rub my fingers against one another, touch anything within reach, etc (funnily enough I almost never flap or tap my fingers, I get this weird sensation in the hands if I do, so I flap my wrists instead)

The more excited I get the more spastic I become, I start waving my arms around and clapping and rubbing my palms.., to mention a few excitement symptoms. When nervous I tend to freeze up both in body and speech.
When I can’t find the word for something I start circulating my wrists airily or flapping my hand and arm around to make up for the lost word.
...Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

 

[Dusty285]

For us on the Spectrum, talking with our hands is one thing, but for Aspies it is usually something different. Closing hands into fists or just closed curled fingers is an anger signal for many NT's. I have been told that if I ever visit Italy and drive a car to keep my fingers tight on the steering wheel. Apparently or supposedly the Italians talk to each other with hand motions and random hand or finger motions can say things that will cause big problems. There is a joke about the Italian man with a speech defect: He broke his arm and his arm and hand were immobile in a sling.

Dunno.

 

[Spiller]

For us on the Spectrum, talking with our hands is one thing, but for Aspies it is usually something different.

I believe I shall avoid Italy then.
How do you distinguish between Spectrum and Aspie?

 

[Dusty285]

The "Spectrum" is the entire span of Autism. "Aspie" is a tiny part of the Spectrum. Think like the color Aquamarine is part of the color Spectrum of the rainbow.

 

[Peace]

YES! I am Italian though and just assumed it was that. Tie my hands and I have great difficulty explaining anything.

 

[Moviefan2k4]

When I'm trying to stress a particular subject, I often gesture during conversations. I also tend to snap my fingers a lot, when I get lost on a particular train of thought.

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

I gesture quite a bit when I'm talking. I think it's a habit I picked up as a child, as I used to stammer, and using signs to get simple meanings across was much easier than talking. I still often have trouble getting words out and use my hands instead, or use signs to add emphasis or meaning when I'm trying to explain something.
I also use a lot of non-verbal sounds when I'm comfortable with someone, I can easily go for days without saying a word to my parents, just communicating in grunts and hand waving

 

[aj]

I think i only talk with my hands when I'm angry haha i throw them about whilst yelling

 

[Meg]

I gesture profusely when I speak, but then again, I am mostly French-canadian, with some native American, so I feel many will agree that it isn't just Italians who find it difficult to speak with their hands tied. Many Mediterranean countries, eastern European, central and south American countries show this trait ( I studies anthro for a few year, one of my six majors, so indecisive), I mainly gesture as a elaboration on what I am saying, probably, or I just copy my immensely huge collective of relatives. On the topic of sign language, never really used it and also if I can't get out want I want to say correctly I will try writing it or drawing, I find if I have something to say and it is important I want it to come across as urgent and detailed as it is in my brain, well as much as is possible.

 

[tree]

Yes, when I talk I use my hands & arms to
make visual descriptions. Shape, direction,
speed, emotion, size, intensity. Talking is
show and tell.

 

[Adora]

Yes hugely I use to get picked on at school for it and it gets worse when I get excited about something or go on about a subject.