Incorrect Pronoun Use

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I have heard of this and wonder why it happens.

Autistics never use the pronoun "I" when refering to themselves, it is always "Me" or else it's worse "We."

Why is this?

Does being Austic mean you have no Self awareness at all?

Just wondering.

I do this, but I think it might be because I suffer from depersonalization disorder.

I use the word I. My english classes have forced it upon me.

I tend to use "I" and "We" interchangeably.
This confuses some people. I can't really help it.


What do you mean by "self-awareness"?

I've never heard of that :S A lot of people on this forum use 'I'. A know a lot of NTs who would use 'me' instead (usually to sound cute).

I've never heard of this. I've heard that autistic people can often overuse pronouns without making it clear to whom they are referring (such as saying 'he did this and she did that' without first stating who 'he' and 'she' actually are - supposedly a problem of the much-debated theory of mind!).

However, having said that, I do like to refer to myself in the third person for fun. However, I only do that with people I know well, who know me and my eccentricities! I am quite aware that it is not seen as 'normal' to do this, so I normally use 'I'.

I've just thought of a possible reason for the theory that autistics say 'me' rather than 'I'. There is a theory that autistic people do not see themselves as agents - that they are passive and don't see themselves as effecting changes in the world, or having any power. They see themselves as acted upon rather than acting (this is a theory - I'm not sure if I agree, but I can see how it can sometimes happen this way). Therefore, it would make more sense for autistic people to say 'me' more than 'I', because 'me' is the object of a sentence and 'I' is the subject'. So 'me' is being done to, and 'I' is doing (eg. 'The ball hits me' versus 'I hit the ball'.)

I used to address myself in the third person when I was younger a bit like Julius Caesar. I thought it sounded rather grand and important.

"Amber wants to____"

"Amber would like____ please."

I was told not to do this because it was naughty and had it "trained out of me". i now refer to myself as "I". When I'm really having a nervous breakdown I revert back to this behaviour though.

One my adult member of my family can get away with similar behaviour today (referring to herself in the third person) even with her friends because she wasn't labeled with AS like I was grrr... . I have noticed this and I'm not happy. I'm not completely stupid. How come she's allowed to talk like that and I'm not allowed to? It's not fair!


I always used to think when I was very young that people said their own names to each other as a greeting. For instance:

"Hello Amber." would be my greeting to another person who I predicted would reply.

"Hello John." if the other person's name was John.

Perhaps I thought that "Hello Amber." was short for "Hello my name is Amber."

I wonder if some languages do actually use this shortened form of greeting?


I've had that behaviour trained out of my too, but I still sometimes get mixed up with who's who on TV shows sometimes (especially if there are lots of human characters). Animal characters aren't so much of a problem.

I've actually been told by someone that I have brilliant self awareness, far better than most people's.

Whenever I do multiple intelligence tests, my intra-personal intelligence is high and has the maximum number of points available.

I don't know if that really helps the discussion or not.

Yes, I used "we" a lot when I was younger when I reasoned about myself.

My son does the opposite, he uses "I" instead of "me"

"Could Mommy give I some?"

"I putted I's shoes on"

This IS ODD! And, slightly off topic, did you know that hindi and arabic have sex on verbs conjugated in the first person! That means that amber and I would have to say different things if you wanted to say "I would like a glass of milk"! So how does the pronoun change stuff affect THAT!?

My son refers to himself in the third person a lot, but I think he does this at home rather than at school. Usually he's adopted some persona when he does it as well, so it'll be along the lines of ..."the baby gerbil is thirsty..." or "he wants his mummy gerbil (me) to pay him some attention!"

He does also say "I" and is something of a stickler for correct grammar.

Me too...forced myself to stop a few years ago.

Sometimes I refer to myself in the third person. I don't even know I'm doing it half the time.

As for self-awareness, I think mine varies from time to time, but not too much.


Just a thought:
Some people use "we" when they are reffering to themselves, because they are plural.

I once read a book that exsplained this very well

when someone is talking to 'Jim' (I just picked this name at random) they say 'you' therefore 'you = person who is Jim'

when someone is talking about themselves to 'Jim' they say 'I' therefore 'I =person who is not Jim'

Ergo the mixup.

Sometimes I mix up 'I' with 'we' or I refer to myself in the third person.