Autism mimicry vs NT mimicry

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I keep hearing about mimicry being connected to autism. Isn't mimicry just a fact of life? How would people learn to speak or do much of anything without mimicry? A lot of NTs mimic people as well, it's just a normal part of social interactions. Why do people think that mimicry is connected to autism?

I mimic people all the time.

It's something that I have always done, I wouldn't have known it had anything to do with autism.

I thought it was something that people do.

To be honest, I don't even know that I'm doing it half the time.

I mimic contestants on quiz shows quite often, to my daughter's amusement.

I also mimic answer machine messages when I'm at work.

But then, to be honest, I'm not the only one who does that.

No, I don't think mimicry is exclusive to autism.

It's done in a different way that really makes us stand out more and blend in less.

It's not usually just mimicking the people around us but people we care about more, like favourite TV show characters. We may start dressing like them, copying the accent exactly, copying mannerisms and even responding the same emotionally.

It is kind of strange when a 27 Australian starts calling people 'old boy.' Or starts talking in Battle School speak or like an officer in the air force while wearing their home made air force jacket or wears a black shirt with khakis to feel more like Col. John Sheppard from Stargate: Atlantis, or starts talking just like the Jaffa Teal'C.

I've even started to sound more like Sheldon Cooper, including becoming as arrogant as him.

So it's done in a more intense way that makes us still seem weird, while NTs can mimic what it going around in the social group.

I usually just pick up peoples accents who I tend to focus on more, if they are around me. And I can keep doing that accent for days after seeing them. And I actually hear it in my head when I think thoughts. Those accents in my head help me read or write in I'm struggling to process a lot of written information too.

I hope that clears it up.

Because some autistic people completely rely on mimicry to try appearing as "normal" as possible, or just plain function/interact on a basic level. Most of the time when I'm writing I hear the voice of a favorite author, like I am channeling him or whatever. I have read autobiographical books for this reason. Copying others is really the only way I'm able to put stuff like this together.

NT's 'mimicry' by following a trend, more than ASD who can sometimes actually copy the behaviour of someone.

I act read autistic people don't mimic others and it's normal kids who always do because it's how they learn social skills and they model after their parents so it's very important to be a good role model for your child if you want them to learn manners and politeness. Treat others how you want your child to treat others. Handle things the professional way to teach your child how to solve issues and handle them. Autistic kids don't do this I've read.

But I copied people and I copied anyone, little kids, older kids, kids in my special classroom, anyone. So any behavior I did was always learned behavior and my parents always had to correct it. To me everything was normal behavior. Then my school wanted me in a behavior program when I was 12 and my parents knew if they let them do that, I would learn to have behavior problems and learn to get violent because it would have been "normal behavior." That was how I got by in life and being normal by copying other kids and figuring stuff out and seeing what kids do and how it affects them such as that one boy who threw chairs in my class and he was sent to the office all day long. I never wanted to sit in the office all day long so I knew if I throw chairs, I go to the office and have to sit there all day long. If I scream on the bus on the field trip, I get in trouble and that is no ice cream from McDonalds because it happened to a boy in my class and our teacher told the bus driver to go back to school so he did and we dropped the kid off and we all headed to McDonalds for ice cream. I always felt sorry for kids who would get into trouble because I was always glad that wasn't me that did the mistake and I got to learn from their mistake.

There is evidence of reduced imitation in autism compared to NT.

In the movie Legal Eagles, attorney Laura Kelly (Debra Winger) admits "l practice looks in the mirror."

I mimic people. When I was a little kid, after watching Star Trek, I used to put elastic bands on the tops of my ears to try and train them to be pointy. I even considered using super glue (after it was invented) but was too scared to try it. You see, I wanted to be Mr. Spock. I also used to record the episodes on cassette (and later, on video after they were invented) and practice speaking like him and saying the things he said. I actually got to use one of his lines just recently (like 40 years later) and everyone in the room thought I was so smart. The psychologist asked me to repeat it, she liked it so much.

That may be a bit too much information. Oh well

Last edited by ImAnAspie on 24 Mar 2014, 4:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

Did I shock the unshockables?