Autism: the misadventure of talking.

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How does one think without words?

ruveyn

?

how do babies and animals think? obviously one can think outside of language. there isn't a word for everything anyway.

Back when I was young, I always used to wonder how people coped with thinking in words - I was in pictures only. Even when I'm groping for words, it's a pattern, or a page image that comes to mind first.

Just wierd, I guess...

I think it has something to do with the 2 specific modes of thinking. I know when I was in school and throughout my life I learned better visually as well as random.

In other words, I use most of the right side of my brain while those who mostly use the left are better in analytical thinking or prefer sequential orders piece by piece.

I had a lot of problems in my different way of learning because of this. Had to take courses on the style of studying to better understand the subject or task I was learning about.

Plus I think I have a semantic pragmatic disorder....but that could also be part of my aspergers...who knows. It's never been easy for me to comprehend words as much as pictures and audio.

When little, I went a long time without talking and I can remember how horribly frustrating it was especially to hear that I was slow or even mildly ret*d!! !

Well the situation is like this: you are going to be executed in a short time and this is only your private affair. You might also be pardoned or have your verdict commuted in a life sentence, or even to a mild, but perpetual penalty. The more you talk with other people of your situation the more are the chances of a worse penalty. So you are left with small talk. Conventional polite mumblings.
It’s something like the character in “Last Days” by Gus Van Sant, when he has to talk with a salesman on the “Yellow pages”.

Well up until a few years ago I hardly ever thought in words. I started to talk to myself in my head to practice how it would sound if I said what I was thinking out loud. If it sounded right or would make sense at all. I prefer my previous way of thinking, but I find it hard to go back. I now wish I could switch the TALKING off in my head.

I don’t know which are the passages between non verbal thought and the formation of words and sentences, both when you imagine to talk to someone and when you really have the other as an interlocutor. Most of the time I spend whole days pronouncing two or three words aloud and imagining long speeches to imaginary others or even to myself. Even in this case, and of course when I write, here and in general, I cannot imagine the relationship between non verbal thought (which has the speed of light) and verbalization. Verbalization is in any case in a proportion of 1 to 1000 at least with non verbalized thought.

Verbalization is for me always a betrayal of what I think and I experience unease and dissatisfaction for all that that I say in conversation.