What I Mean When I Say I'm Autistic: Unpuzzling a Life on the Autism Spectrum

by Annie Kotowicz

But phone calls take longer for me overall, if you include all my steps before and after the call: • Write down what I plan to say, usually as bullet points but sometimes as full sentences. • Plan a flow chart of additional things I might need to say, depending on how the call goes. • Breathe deeply to gather courage. • Make the call, reading my notes aloud. • Write down any important information I learn, as well as any follow-up steps I need to take. • Take some time to recover and collect my thoughts, until I’m able to focus on other things again. Making an official call, for example to book an appointment or get technical support, requires all of these steps. When calling a friend, I can usually skip some of them. But emailing only requires the first step, so I’m grateful to live at a time in history when the Internet exists.