Communication Woes

There are words that I especially love, like communication. I think about it all the time, because it means so many things. What’s so particularly odd about it is that even people who are neurotypical often don’t understand each other’s meanings. 


We nonspeakers can not only not use our mouths to talk, but can’t nod, or use hand signals, or even facial expressions. We cannot use writing with pens or body language. And we are reliant on the communication partner. Not only is communication very difficult for us, it is insanely easy to misunderstand our meanings. 


We need to spell out things like “hahaha” or “LOL” to ensure that people know we are joking. We need to spell out our emotions because our faces, too often, don’t reflect what we are feeling. 

The point is that no one should assume things when conversing with us. The reason we word things the way we do, is to make sure we are understood. We need to certainly be extremely precise in our words because we have no nonverbal language. It has to affect our attempts at communication, the lack of facial expressions. We cannot even laugh out loud most of the time. 

With my whole heart, I wish my face reflected what I am feeling.