DISCLAIMER I can only describe my experiences with ASD and not much on others. ASD is a spectrum not just on how functional but also on experiences with different symptoms. Just note that I do not pick up on tonality, inflection, and body language very well. The following might not be the same for everyone on the spectrum.

I was watching The Martian (2015) and a scene jumped out at me. The scene has two characters trying to decipher the meaning behind a text sent by another. The one says the statement twice and asks what way the texter probably meant.

Here is where it gets funny from my perspective. I did not pick up any real difference between the two readings. In my mind the same exact statement of “Are you kidding me?” was stated three times. One in text and then two times verbally, but no significant difference.

Want to have a gimps into what that feels like? Take this scene. Turn the sound off. Subtitles on. Focus on the text. Only watching the actors in your peripheral vision (or turn the quality all the way down so you cannot read the faces). That is much closer to how I hear/feel the scene.

From the dialog it is easy to know that there is a difference. However, with just words and little else, there is no real way to know how it was meant.

-Stassen