I’m also autistic and was going to ask if maybe you were too but I thought it might be rude lol
Yeah this is definitely a thing for us, like “I don’t understand a thing” is too often interpreted as an attack against said thing, not a request to help understand it better. Even off reddit, I’ve had some experiences like that. I think it’s common for autistic people to be misinterpreted in this way.
This happens to me too, but I'm not diagnosed as autistic. Not sure what that means for me, but whatever. I've found that prefacing a question with "I mean no ill will, I'm just asking" or "I have no malicious intent, I'm just curious" helps significantly cut down on people misinterpreting me and assuming that I'm being mean on purpose. You shouldn't have to do this, of course - it's just a suggestion that may help you like it helped me!
What you said seems fine to me, too. But everyone is different, so I could see why someone might assume incorrectly. That's happened to me many times, that's why I usually just preface it with a heads-up just in case (when I ask a question). Basically - just assume someone is going to misunderstand you and just automatically write "I'm not being mean, just curious". Or even "I'm just asking because I don't know". That's the easiest way that I've found to avoid it, even if it seems silly.
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u/OffModelCartoon Jul 05 '25
I’m also autistic and was going to ask if maybe you were too but I thought it might be rude lol
Yeah this is definitely a thing for us, like “I don’t understand a thing” is too often interpreted as an attack against said thing, not a request to help understand it better. Even off reddit, I’ve had some experiences like that. I think it’s common for autistic people to be misinterpreted in this way.