Did you have stage fright as a child?

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zeldapsychology
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17 Dec 2009, 5:14 pm

I was considering this looking back on it now this could of been a sensory issue (not wanting a ton of people seeing me IMO what if I messed up) So I was curious if others on the spectrum had stage fright issues. (I know NT's do awell but I was just thinking perhaps more people on the spectrum have stage fright.) Just an idea. :-)



17 Dec 2009, 5:18 pm

Yes. I refused to be in programs when I was real little. I even hated being in class pictures. Then I got over that when I was four. But I never was in the talent show.



bhetti
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17 Dec 2009, 5:31 pm

yes, bad stage fright persists to this day. I remember being in first grade and stuttering when I had to read aloud in reading circle. it was awful.



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17 Dec 2009, 5:36 pm

^Same here. I still hate to do anything that focuses myself as the center of attention. I avoid it whenever possible, and that usually means 'at all costs'.


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elderwanda
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17 Dec 2009, 5:45 pm

There was never a time in my childhood when I was asked to be on a stage for any reason. But getting up to do an oral book report was horrific. I would be sick for days before the assignment was due. I'd get so nervous that I'd shake, so I couldn't read what I had written. My throat would close up and get all dry, so it was nearly impossible to talk. Then when I was finished, I'd continue to feel sick and ashamed. I sometimes wondered why I felt so nervous. I never felt like I was worried about what other people thought, except for the fact that they would notice I was nervous. But why I was nervous in the first place, I have no idea.

In high school, I figured out that if I just said, "No, I'm not doing this assignment", and accepted the bad grade, no one seemed to care. At that point, I did care what others thought. I especially cared what my English teacher thought, and I knew he'd tease me for the rest of the year if he saw me in that debilitating state of fear.

In college, I dropped out of classes that required oral reports. I remember one class, when I was about 21 (college took me a decade, for other reasons). I was doing quite well in it, and had worked hard on my research project, and knew my topic very well. I got up in front of the class, and was so nervous that I couldn't read. I struggled for a while, but I was completely unable to function at all, let alone read and speak. A few of the people before me had been a bit nervous, and been marked down for presentation. I stopped after a couple of minutes of torture, and sat down. I remember spending the next few minutes trying to not call attention to myself by wiping the tears from my eyes. Eventually, I got up and left, and never came back.

Years later, in a few other college classes, I was able to do oral reports with a manageable amount of nervousness. I think the trick was to get older. I still was uncomfortably nervous, but no more than anyone else.

I've never been on a stage, except as part of high school band. I would not have been able to do a solo. I would get so nervous when the guy next to me did his solo, just imagining that it was me, that it made me feel sick. Luckily, I wasn't a very good sax player like he was, so I was never asked to do a solo. My kids have done plays and musical performances every year at school. I went to seven different schools growing up, and not one of them had any opportunities for being on stage. It's just as well, because I would have died.

That fear of public speaking has influenced my life a lot. I remember thinking in high school that I don't want to go to university, because they might expect me to do oral reports. I also rejected the idea of any career choice that might involve speaking in front of others.



pandd
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17 Dec 2009, 5:58 pm

I had no problems with stage fright when I was younger. Staged activity is scripted or semi scripted, so I lack issues of being uncertain about how to behave in such situations. Hence I find such situations more comfortable than just about any other kind of public situation. Having an overview of what is expected of me makes me a great deal more comfortable than not having one.



paulsinnerchild
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17 Dec 2009, 6:00 pm

No I just kind of switched off as I was on stage as a child but I was much more self conscious in adulthood and try to avoid the stage whereever possible and I hate singing in public



Dodus
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17 Dec 2009, 6:15 pm

No actually, when I was younger I had a talent for singing and I was always proud of my voice, I loved hearing the audience clapping for me and in some ways it made me feel "accepted."
It's the face to face scenarios that really get to me, an audience is just one big organism in my eyes.


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passaggia
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17 Dec 2009, 6:21 pm

I still have it, and it makes my life quite complicated, because I am a musician... It isn't so bad if I'm sitting in an orchestra but rather terrible if I have to play solo. I hate it when people stare at me.



wesmontfan
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17 Dec 2009, 6:21 pm

somewhat.
But I liked it when the adults nudged me to the challenge, and resented it when they allowed me to cop out.

I took speach in HS and did fine.

Now I emcee weddings and spin records at weddings for a dj company so its no big deal.



GodsWonder
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17 Dec 2009, 9:42 pm

Yes, I am 20 and still have major stage fright.



leejosepho
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17 Dec 2009, 9:53 pm

I did okay in scripted scenarios, but at other times my throat would sometimes just "lock up" all on its own and silence me in the middle of a word all the way into my 30s.


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MudandStars
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18 Dec 2009, 8:10 am

I liked being in front of people on a stage, being infront of a bunch of people was a lot easier than talking to one, it's a more indirect way of relating.


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MoonRa
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18 Dec 2009, 8:25 am

I didn't have stage frights. It was, and is, the roleplay.. you know pretending someone else with others that are pretending as well (theory of mind issue).
And the fear is that I may "get locked-up in thoughts" while trying to roleplay; I don't really care how many people are watching, it's a more internal issue. I'm doing better now, life is all about roleplay in a sense.



Sora
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18 Dec 2009, 9:20 am

No, I don't remember stage fright when I was on stage as a child. I thought about the fancy costumes and performing a lot. The social implications where largely lost on me due to the ASD.


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18 Dec 2009, 2:45 pm

No, in fact I was more the opposite (and still am for the most part).


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