Why the PWD cannot handle Questions

Excellent article above. This is similar to what I’ve had to do with my children, who both have autism. They are both verbal, but just because someone can say words aloud doesn’t mean they can process the information their ears hear at the speed we all can. I spent years very frustrated and angry with my poor kids before I understood this. Now I have changed how I communicate with them, and everyone is much happier. For reference, our son is academically gifted and yet this communication difficulty persists and is hard to demonstrate with a standard “test.”

I don't know why, but I can give an example. In the early years of my illness, I could not make decisions. If I were asked, for example, "do you want potatoes or rice?", I could not answer. My mind would think: "potatoes-rice-potatoes-rice-potatoes-rice-potatoes-rice..." and on for quite some time. Other peoplewould become upset at the prolonged delay over simple questions. It was like this for everything. My life was in TURMOIL, because I couldn't understand why I could not make a simple decision. The article mentioned impairment in short term memory. (I think, now I can't remember.) Anyway, it was very bad for me. Now I am a bit better, thanks to my memory meds and to Best Practices and to treatment for sleep apnea and a host of other diseases.

In general, give up asking questions, it's too hard and too draining for your LO. Use declarative sentences. Choose what you think they would like. Make their lives easier and less stressful. These are my suggestions.

Iris