Autism and open ended questions

3 reasons autistic people struggle with open-ended questions

Reason #1. 

About half of autistic people have alexithymia... which is the inability to verbally express emotions or feelings. (You can read more about alexithymia in the link below)

So, "How was your day" can be extremely difficult for an autistic person to answer because they might not actually KNOW how they felt about it. 

Reason #2. Autistic people struggle with social context. 

So to respond "appropriately," we have to actively think about who's asking the question, what their background is, where/why the conversation is taking place, what the other person's relationship is to us, and so on. 

So, "Tell me about yourself" can really stump an autistic person because, in an instant, we need to think through all those social/contextual questions and figure out which part of our lives to share that would be relevant in context. 

Reason #3. Autistic people often think in very detailed and nuanced complexities. 

So, it can be extremely difficult for us to answer a "simple" question without including every detail because our brains are telling us that every single one is important. 

So, besides social context being difficult, when someone says, "tell me about yourself," now, we need to think through the million aspects of our lives that might be relevant... and then figure out how to distill it all into a few short, yet somehow still all-encompassing  sentences.

So, if you're the one asking the question in a social setting, try something more specific.

"Tell me about something you're really passionate about," or "tell me about something you dream of doing one day," or "tell me about what you do to relax," or "tell me about what's been on your mind lately” 

And if you’re the one asking the question in a job interview… instead of “tell me about yourself” try…

“Tell me about your background that relates to this position” or “Tell me about your background and experiences that drew you to this role.”

Basically, help us understand the context of your question and what you’re actually trying to get at so we don't have to struggle to figure it out ourselves... and probably end up getting it wrong anyway. 🙃

Alexithymia & Autism article (Source: Embrace Autism): https://embrace-autism.com/alexithymia-and-autism/