The Gullible Autist

One of the most painful things about being an autist is how gullible I am. I believe people are talking literally and that they are being honest. I suppose I assume these things because that is the way that I interact with other people. It’s hard for me to see that other people operate socially in such a different way. Even after more than fifty years, it makes so little sense to me to exaggerate or lie to others that I just don’t guess at it initially, though I’m aware it’s a possibility. But the better I know someone, the less likely I am to guess that they are “joking” around. I don’t understand jokes in general, so it’s a bit of a vicious cycle.

If you are dealing with an autist, you might reconsider your repertoire or “jokes” and in particular any “pranks” that you might pull on this person. I don’t often find them funny. I admit, my sense of humor is limited or perhaps just of the type that only other autists understand. Humor is very much a product of context and I lack a lot of the normal social context (movies, TV shows, memes, etc) that other people have. I don’t have FOMO and so I miss how the punchline is funny.

If you play this kind of joke on me, you’re going to be waiting for my facial expression when I realize I’ve been pranked. And let me just say that you’re going to be disappointed. My face doesn’t make the right kinds of expressions unless I purposely force it to do so by…