My spectrum of understanding other people’s thoughts ACTIVITY C. YOUR WRITING PROMPTS PAGE 143-144

Reasons: Why might I not understand other people’s thoughts? Are you puzzled by people and what they might be thinking? Can you interpret their facial expressions to predict what they might think or feel? How about body language?   Do you know that people have different thoughts to you but don’t really register it until something happens? What usually triggers your awareness? Is this because of a rigid style of thinking so you focus on one thing or on what you are doing/thinking? What about factors such as delayed or mono-processing? Are social interactions something you feel comfortable or confident taking part in? Do you feel you can connect with people in a typical interaction? How does understanding or anticipating their thoughts influence your ability to communicate or your enjoyment of it?

Effect: How do other people react? Has anyone told you that you don’t think about other people or their perspective? Does this reflect you or is it a misunderstanding of intentions/words? What are the consequences of this kind of misinterpretation? Do people think you are doing things on purpose even when you have given your explanation of events? Are you able to figure out how you can be misunderstood or is the whole thing just too confusing? Are people aware that you are autistic and how that presents in you? What happens if they don’t know this?

Meaning: What might this mean for me? Do interactions become overwhelming when things go wrong especially if it happens a lot? Does this make you want to give up or withdraw? Are people hard work? Do they think you are hard work? Is it easier to be on your own? Do you get tired of being confused or the one who doesn’t seem to get things right or has the different perspective?   Does it seem as though you are on a different planet to everyone around you? How does that make you feel? Do you ever feel lonely because of the distance within relationships due to misinterpretations or a lack of understanding for you?

Strategies: How can I deal with this? Is there a parent/teacher who could help you identify anything that you seem to do a lot? Could you collaborate on writing a short story to review particular situations with someone you have experienced this sort of confusion? Would this help to show both sides how the process of interactions developed into misunderstandings or miscommunications? Could you share this to increase mutual acceptance and awareness for future reference?