Is writing or speaking easier for you?

[RemyZee]

Definitely writing--it is always a relief when I can communicate in my way: by sitting, thinking about it, re thinking about it, ruminating on it, then putting it in writing. Also at work, if I don't have things in writing life seems to go haywire.

 

[the_tortoise]

I have a much easier time writing than speaking. I have lots of trouble speaking like finding words and losing my train of thought in the middle of sentences. I can't explain it because I was better before being a teen.

I am similar.

In my case I have auditory processing difficulties and all my language is built on written language as a foundation. My spoken language has never caught up and doesn't exist as its own thing. When I want to say words I see them in my head first for a tiny fraction of a second, and when people speak the same thing has to happen or I can't even identify the word(/s), let alone figure out any meaning.

In my case though, I have always been this way and had delayed and atypical language development, and my speech has improved a lot with age, with a huge improvement in my early to mid twenties. At this point it's unlikely to improve more, and if it does will be unnoticeable to anyone but me.

I also have a mild stutter that I'm told is probably oral-motor dyspraxia and becomes a pronounced stutter when I'm tired or stressed out, and slow processing speed (my processing speed is just barely better than mild intellectual disability level...it shows in daily life and was demonstrated in the results of days of neuropsychological testing), both of which make it worse.

I also lose my train of thought but again I've always been this way and it has improved with age rather than worsened. In my case it is because of severe difficulty with focus (I'm extremely tangential and my brain is a chaotic place where [this is actually sort of a poor analogy but best i can think of at the moment:] you can think of my thoughts as being a bit like fireworks setting each other off in a complex 3-D arrangement that cascades like dominoes knocking each over but in criss-crossing insanely complex interconnected patterns in all directions - one point of thought or idea explodes out like a firework and each branch of it sets off however many new fireworks and on it goes ) and also abysmal working memory (have Autism plus "severe ADHD-C"...I actually had a psychologist tell me that speaking with me reminded her of talking to people with dementia -- not exactly the same, she said, as the similarities have very different causes and I'm fully with it in present-day reality and can be reminded of what I was saying or that the other person asked a question i failed to clearly answer and then forgot, among other distinctions...but, just to give you an idea of how bad it is).

 

[RealisticRobin]

Writing is easier. I don't have to worry about responses.

Also,I'd prefer if people wrote back rather than called me!

 

[Brian39WV]

I think writing has always been easier for me. It is not that I do not like talking. But almost every time after talking with someone I feel unsatisfied. Like I never got across what I wanted to. And that the demands of the conversation outweighed the substance of it.

With writing I typically feel both sides are able to get the point across they want better than by talking. There is less need for formalities or pleasantries in the written word.

That is also why I no longer ask women out on dates in person. When I was younger (think college and mid-20s) I was able to ask out random women I barely knew or did not really even know all that well. But now I realize how little I am what most women want. So, I prefer to stick to asking women out to online and dating apps. I figure this way I can get across that I am autistic and be very upfront with who I am. In person it feels hard to just randomly ask someone out since I know I am probably not what they are looking for in a partner. But online I can get across who I am much more easily and efficiently.

I have still never been in a relationship before despite it being my biggest (and really only) goal in life. But that is ok. I just hope that someday it does happen for me. But that is why I like writing and putting myself out there online. Because just about the only thing I have ever learned romantically is if I am not putting myself out there no one will ever see me.