Not responding to one's name

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Hi,

I know that not responding to one's name is often considered an early sign of autism.

I remember as an older kid I would not respond to my name if I was involved in an activity that my annoying mother kept trying to draw me out of. I would ignore her hoping she would just leave me alone. In fact, I often just wanted her and everyone to leave me alone. I would have been happy if my whole family could have left me at home all by myself. My only fear was if I needed something and couldn't get it. I wonder if this is normal? Is this also why very young autistic children don't respond to their name?

There is a zone where kids are not so absorbed by an interest or so distracted by the environment that they can attend to an important stimulus (like being called by name). Autistic kids are more often outside that zone - too absorbed or too distracted to attend - and not necessarily conscious of (and deliberately ignoring) the stimulus.

It's normal for me anyway. I have certainly ignored people when I was into something in the hopes that they'd give up and leave me to my interest. There have been plenty of times I have thought that I just wish my mother would leave me alone, but I wouldn't have been happy if my family really would have just left me alone. I would have missed them, and wanted them there, I just wished they'd leave me alone when I was into stuff and then be there when I was ready to put my interest down for a little while. There were plenty of times when I've wanted them far away, out of frustration of being interrupted and drawn out of my world.
The rest of the world, I've always wished they'd just leave me alone though!

Another reason I was reluctant to respond to my name, is that I have always hated that name. To me it's a swearword. So in adult age I legally changed my name.

I assume it's normal for small autistic children to ignore being called. From the book "Not even wrong" by Paul Collins:

The boy's reaction certainly struck a chord with me. A little later they're at the doc who says:
"
A little later his mother says:


Yeah, I assume it's both normal for us and the reason for ignoring. Sometimes I'm so far into y world, whether daydreams, reading or writing, or playing video games, that I don't even hear anyone talking to me.

Not responding to one's name isn't limited to autism though. I have seen other children as well ignore their parents calling for them when they're out playing, hoping they don't see them so they can stay out longer. One boy in my neighborhood even hid under a car!

My youngest brother used to just ignore you and not respond to his name either because he didn't feel like talking. It used to irritate me. he is NT.

In second grade, kids thought I was deaf because they would say my name or talk to me and I didn't respond only because I didn't hear them and they never got my attention. It was a loud environment we were in and I didn't know someone was talking to me.


I think not responding to your name can be part of different things like a processing problem where you are in a noisy environment so you have a hard time filtering sounds and hearing someone talk so of course you wouldn't know someone is speaking to you or even respond to your name.

Also hearing loss will do it

Autism

ADHD

And anyone who is so over focused they don't notice you. NTs get this way sometimes when they are so busy with something that is complicated and they are concentrating hard.

Dyslexics perhaps because they get overfocused with reading because it's harder for them. Mys husband does this when he is trying to read something on the computer or when he is playing his game. He does it with anything.



In the past, I would just get bitchy when someone call my name because I wanted to be left alone. I still get that way so I say "what?" in a angry voice every time because I hate being bothered. I don't ignore them.

Explains why people say autistics are like cats. I've only known one cat that wasn't true of (if I initiated, he always responded regardless of mood), out of 7 I've had in my home. Typical cat behavior:

Human: Kitty...

Cat: *points ears at human and ignores them*

Human: Come here, I want to cuddle.

Cat: *ignores the human*

Human calls a bit more, cat ignores. Then human gives up. Several hours later, human is busy with something else, and cat comes to cuddle.

It could also be something as simple as extreme focus. Not comparing people to animals but I have a deer dog. If she puts her nose to the ground and picks up a scent she will not come if you call her. Any other time she will.

I remember not responding to my name when I was a little kid. I was aware people were calling my name but I just observed the situation and didn't understand the social obligation to reply. I don't know if this is normal or not.
What I mean is that I knew they were talking to me but I didn't know they expected a reply from me.

That can happen to me too.
Some person: "Skilpadde!"
Me: (sits/stands still waiting for the person to go on with whatever they wanted to say)
Some person: "Skilpadde! Answer me for crying out loud!"

Aspinator, my dog was also like that. When he followed his nose, he didn't have ears or eyes for anything else. Including dogs in heat. He was only focused on the scent he was sniffing.

I didn't respond to my name, because I didn't know that I was supposed to respond. The calling of my name lacked significance to me. It was just a sound that I heard.

What if they said "I would like you to talk to me"? Then would you realize what their intentions were?

No, I didn't talk to people when they told me to talk to them. I didn't understand the idear of talking, and I didn't talk.

Even if someone said they would like me to talk to them I would still just observe the situation and not respond. I didn't interact, I just observed. I was trying to understand things.

If I don't respond, it usually means I'm just too wrapped up in my head or there's too much commotion going on around me. Sometimes hearing my name makes me flinch, too. It's like being poked by a stranger out of the blue.

if i dont respond quickly to someone who's calling me, i may be distracted with something. they may just think that im ignoring them when really it just takes a while to shift all my focus from one idea i may be having to the next..

Not responding to an annoying person who's calling your name, is it an ASD trait?
I did it many times. Many, many times.
I remember that it was an easy way to avoid contact with people I hated... (I hated a lot of people when I was a young kid)

If I don't respond when someone speaks to me, it's usually because I'm either too wrapped up in what I'm doing that I don't want to break my concentration or I don't see the need to respond.