Multi-channel communication

From ActuallyAutistic Wiki

This is a mini stub article just to get things started!

Neurotypical people often communicate along two separate channels:

  • 1. Words/content
  • 2. Vibes

As an autistic person, I'm usually focused on just words/content. That means that as I'm talking I sometimes accidentally transmit negative vibes, or vibes that are out of line with the content of my speech. Or, when a neurotypical person is talking to me, sometimes they're only "sketching" with their words in a way that isn't meant to be taken literally; mainly, they're transmitting vibes that they hope I pick up on.

A major source of misunderstandings for me has been sending vibes I didn't mean to send, or neurotypical people sending vibes and expecting me to receive them.