Are You Quiet in Real Life?

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Occasionally, I might get a bit excited and get far too loud if I'm doing something or talking about something that I'm passionate about.

Otherwise, quieter than a church mouse. When I first moved into my current home, the landlady (who lives in the room below) would get a bit paranoid that I'd run away or dropped dead. I do everything quietly - always close doors by twisting the handle and easing them shut, walk around on tip-toe all the time (partly stimmy, I think), always know where every creaky floorboard in the house is, etc. Partly, I think, because of my own hyper-sensitivity to sound, and partly because I've always had terrible insomnia, so I got loads of practice being awake at night and hiding it from my parents. My landlady is rather similar (most of our conversations are moaning about the noise from neighbours etc.) - we take it in turns to enter a room and make the other one jump out of their skin when they suddenly realise the other is only a foot away!

I have spent a lot of time in my life like that. I guess that what I'm going to say next might sound really silly to a lot of people, but; even if I've been scripting conversations in my head, and with all the talking to myself that I do, I can get so that I fear having to speak because I feel as if I just won't be able to remember how to do it any more. I've learned that I really need to get just a little practice in each week, otherwise that fear can keep me isolated even when I'd rather not be (not very often!) I'm mute during melt-downs/shut-downs usually, but I don't recall ever really forgetting how to speak when I've needed to in "stress-free" conditions, so it baffles me why this fear can become so strong.

It depends on where I am and whom I'm talking to. My default is to be extremely chatty, but an overly stimulating environment or difficult social situation (groups, young adults, etc) will usually make me clam up. When I'm dealing with sensory overload, I stop talking entirely and just shake my head at people, not because I've truly gone nonverbal but because I don't want to waste energy processing conversation and predispose myself to a shutdown. I think most people mistake me for being quiet and shy. I'm not, I'm just preoccupied.

Generally I'm quiet. I can be talkative (or just a normal amount compared to most) though. It depends on the circumstances; if anyone engages with me, if an animal is around, etc, or sometimes it depends on my mood.

I am a very quiet, reserved, and shy person.

I'm pretty quiet. I was bullied & teased a lot in skewl by my peers & adults used to tell me to be quiet or leave them alone when trying to engage them in conversation. Not having anyone who wants to listen to you kind of encourages you to be quiet.