Five days mute

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Wow, hopefully in time they'll learn there's more than one way to communicate. That it's okay for a person on the spectrum, or anyone else for that matter, to use writing. That communication should not be about single path.

And is there a way you might 'dance' the situation so to speak, such as reading parts from a book you're liking into a tape recorder?

I'm not sure what you mean by that. What does dancing have to do with reading into a tape recorder?

What I mean by this is kind of one of the lessons which I take from zen and martial arts about going with the flow in a positive way and of "under-trying." When I'm kind of on my A game and pretty much at my best, I don't try to force something to happen, rather I give it a positive chance and merely allow it to happen. That's what I view as the zen approach, especially for difficult things which don't come as easily.

And so, if you like the idea of the tape recorder, perhaps give it a try. And if it helps, great. And if not, maybe something else which feels like a positive possibility.

And that's what I mean by 'dancing' a possibility.

I don't have a tape recorder or a working mic for my computer, so I can't record. Interesting idea, though. I'm not sure what recording my voice would do, though, as I can't really control when I read out loud. It happens rarely and randomly.

Okay, so you read out loud rarely and randomly. I would view this as a gift and as a potential positive.

Heh. Only while this has been going on.

What I can do is sing, although my throat can only take so much of that. I am so out of practice.

Oh, singing sounds good. Just keep water nearby and try not to overdo it.

Just posting here to say speech is returning, slowly. I can force a few words out, or even full sentences. Not whenever I want to, but a bit here and there.

I had something similar happen over a year and a half a go.

I had a really bad meltdown, and then I had a really bad shutdown (the 3rd worst I have ever had) because the person who was causing it literally just would not stop and just kept going and I could not get away. This process happened over 6 hours. I didn't speak for the next week after that, and my speech returned fully over the next 14 days after that, but not within my control. I'm not good verbally either.

It has happened before, but only on the worst meltdowns or shutdowns I have had. Apparently according to those who diagnosed me, it comes under selective mutism, which those of us who have trouble with that in the first place are more prone to it after really bad shutdowns or meltdowns.

Thanks for this. Losing speech does usually happen during my more intense shutdowns. The one that preceded this episode actually hit me so fast I didn't have time to realize I was shutting down until I was out for a few hours. I just knew I needed to lay down, which is something that happens during a shutdown.

I think what triggered it was a combination of things: It was getting hotter here, and heat and I do not get along. My sister and niece were arguing very loudly and daily for two or three days before the shutdown. My niece's baby cries very frequently, and when she cries that sometimes leaves me discombobulated and a bit dissociated due to the volume and duration. There was also a lot of door slamming, and the dogs (three small dogs in the house) were barking fairly frequently. I had also been playing a lot of Diablo III over the weeks previous, and had kept playing past the point where it was overloading me the day before, and nearly had a meltdown because I couldn't do anything right due to the overload.

As I posted above, it's been about a week, and I am starting to get speech back. It does seem gradual. Selective mutism seems as good a label as any.

Thanks for this. Losing speech does usually happen during my more intense shutdowns. The one that preceded this episode actually hit me so fast I didn't have time to realize I was shutting down until I was out for a few hours. I just knew I needed to lay down, which is something that happens during a shutdown.

I think what triggered it was a combination of things: It was getting hotter here, and heat and I do not get along. My sister and niece were arguing very loudly and daily for two or three days before the shutdown. My niece's baby cries very frequently, and when she cries that sometimes leaves me discombobulated and a bit dissociated due to the volume and duration. There was also a lot of door slamming, and the dogs (three small dogs in the house) were barking fairly frequently. I had also been playing a lot of Diablo III over the weeks previous, and had kept playing past the point where it was overloading me the day before, and nearly had a meltdown because I couldn't do anything right due to the overload.

As I posted above, it's been about a week, and I am starting to get speech back. It does seem gradual. Selective mutism seems as good a label as any.

My boyfriend's mom was curious about whether you could sing what you were trying to communicate, or whether you could only sing old songs you knew. She mentioned that she's found that people singing when they're capable helps them gain or regain the ability to speak normally faster.

Friday night I had my longest loss of speech. Comparatively it wasn't very long, but it was awkwardly timed and I didn't have any way to communicate for part of it. It overall was about 4 hours, but for the first hour of it my computer had no battery, so I was unable to type on anything.

I was only able to sing songs I already knew. I didn't try to learn any new songs, but I wasn't able to just find a way to sing sentences. I couldn't work out a melody to use.

I think it's probably right. Using singing and vocalizations can bring it back faster. It just hasn't worked out as well for me this time as it has in the past.

A lot of my speech loss in the past has been during times I am most active - at night. If it's only a few hours and I don't have to talk to anyone because they're asleep, it's not an issue. It started interfering with stuff when it would happen during the day or evening, or if it lasted longer than a few hours.

just be sure its not a mini stroke

I don't think it's a mini stroke. I've had this happen multiple times, and it always takes a similar course, even if of different durations.

Able to speak more today than yesterday.