Excessive talk.

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Do any of you (with AS) talk excessively, especially when it's about your favourite interest? Do you find it very hard to stop?

If I talk about trains, science or medicine/pharmacology, or my experiences with them, I find I can ramble for ages about it. Someone actually has to tell me to stop before I stop talking.

On the other side, I barely talk in social gatherings or when the conversation is not on the above topics.

Do you experience this too?

I have had these experiences too.

I've been told to shut-up, and what have you, but I've eventually come to the realisation that I've got to manage myself, regulate how I talk about these things, & stop going on and on about this stuff.

Now I'm more aware, I'm much more controlled.

Took me a long time, though.

I have high functioning autism, rather than Asperger's, but they're so similar they're pretty much the same thing.

If I'm talking about a special interest I can go on and on and on and not know when to stop. I will go into far too much detail, and go on and on about something, even when the person I'm telling these things to has no use for the information, and in all likelihood doesn't want to listen.

My main special interest is playing music, and most of the people I interact with are musicians. Even with other musicians I sometimes go on for too long or get too specific, but often other musicians are very interested in what I have to say.

Oh yes, this is me! If you get me started on a topic of interest I can talk non-stop for hours, almost without taking a breath. I just go on and on until I run out of steam, often not 'ending' it properly by summing up correctly. When I do this my family usually just wait a little and then let me know that I'm rambling so I stop. My boyfriend just lets me ramble on.

I talk very little in social gatherings, I'm happy to sit back and let other people lead the discussions. I can make basic small talk though, and I've got quite good at asking questions that prompt the other person to talk at length so I don't have to.

I do this sometimes - for example, the other week, I was playing music with someone I had just met. Usually in those situations I barely talk, at all, although I can still play as much music as I want. But we weren't playing at the moment - I was having difficulty saying anything. He mentioned that he taught wilderness survival, and in part of that description he said he knew how to skin a moose, so I asked him to describe how in order to stall for time - and it worked.

It does work, doesn't it? I've discovered that a lot of people like to talk about themselves so questions like 'Your job sounds really interesting but I know very little about that field, what exactly do you do? ' can mean 10 minutes in which I barely have to say anything. For years I used to have quite stilted, awkward conversations and then I read about 'closed' and 'open'questions and that has really helped me. I make an effort always to ask open questions, as it keeps the other person talking for longer.

I was really bad about this when I was a kid. I still sometimes do it, but I'm much more selective with the people I do it with. When talking to strangers or mere aquaintences, I tend to rely on "social mode" where I'm more keen on carrying a socially normal conversation, ask them questions, keep them talking; it's good practice for me. Sometimes my wife will kindly let me know when she's heard enough about something though!

One of the reasons I don't talk much is because many people complain that I tend to be too open and ramble on. Much easier to just not say anything some days!

Oh, yes. It's best not to get me started on my interest, because then I won't stop.

My boyfriend (high functioning autistic) does this all of the time, but it works well for us because I'm very quiet. So I like to hear all about his ideas and opinions and I encourage him to talk as long as he likes while I listen to whatever he feels like saying at the moment. It really doesn't bother me.

When I talk about autism to someone I don't know, I don't know when to stop.
I've always gone on and on since I was a kid, there's no off switch. I have way too much expressive energy.
It's the same with my thoughts.