Can't talk to people when you're working on something?

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My mom has this habit of trying to talk to me when I'm typing and it's so f'ing annoying. I was wondering if it's an ASD thing not to want to talk/not to be able to interact with people when you're working on something (I just can't pay attention to what she's saying, even if all I'm doing is typing on a messageboard or if it's something important like a paper) or if that's just people in general.

Then again, she's an autism denier, so it's not like the answer matters.

I zone out when I am typing or chatting. I cannot listen to the other person at the same time I am doing this.


I don't know if this is a ASD thing, my mother is that way too. I can remember her telling my brothers and I to leave her alone because she was paying the bills or working on something else where she was writing.

yes i cant conserate at work when people ask questions

I have a pretty hard time. I have to pause my video game or stop cooking when my mom talks to me. At school I have a hard time concentrating on my work when talking.
My teacher has a radio in class, and when there are commercials one with people talking, I have to try harder to finish my work.
I've always been a single tasker. If I were a computer, my OS would be DOS.

If I try to talk with someone when I'm working on something, I generally have to stop doing whatever I'm doing. If I don't, I get very irritated. I really can only do one thing at a time without starting to overload. I even find it hard when my husband comes over to kiss me on the head while I'm writing someting on the computer. I can't integrate two senses at the same time very well.

Yes. Lab Pet isn't a multi-tasker. Linear mind :: y = mx + b

Talking can be distracting and when I'm formulating/thinking I'm just not in the mood. Or mode, rather.

Second Life keeps freezing my boyfriend's laptop. While I was concentrating on waiting for the computer to unfreeze, my bf kept trying to talk to me and I got frustrated because I was trying to do something. I kept zoning him out.


I used to think this kind of thing was a everyone thing but I guess not. If your own parents do it, you are going to think it's normal. My mother has told me she couldn't talk and she needed to concentrate on cooking. When she concentrates, she can't talk or listen.

The same goes for me. If someone begins speaking to me while I'm working on a project, I have to stop working on that project in order to process the words being spoken.

I know I can't read when there is too much noise. The same goes for doing homework.

Not only do I have to stop what I am doing if someone is talking to me when I am in the middle of trying to get something done BUT.. I HATE being interrupted while I am in the middle of doing something!! ! I tend to also just let the phone ring if I am in the middle of writing a letter or something!

absolutely no multi tasking here either. I can only do one thign at a time. disruptions to my task very easily lead to meltdowns. I get interrupted and i see all this white flashing stuff in my brain like shards of glass and i start flapping my hands around my head.

I have to stop what I am doing if someone starts talking to me. I get very irritated if I am in the middle of learning something new, or trying to fix something, and someone in the background is making loud obnoxious sounds for the simple reason that they can, or someone decides since I am not typing at that moment, I am free to chitchat. When I focus in on what I am doing, there just isn't room for others to intrude.

<---- Can not drive and talk. If I do I will simply keep driving straight ahead and miss whatever turn or highway exit im supposed to get off on. Even if I've been taking the same route for years.

<---- If I'm reading a book you better pinch me if you need me for something. The world around me has ceased to exist.


<---- No, i'm not ignoring you. Im just focused on something more important right now. Leave a message after the beep.

Yes...mostly I write, not speak. Recently at my University, which has a long sweeping staircase in my science building, I was writing (on DANA) to give to another.....I almost feel down the stairs! The adage: Cannot walk & chew gum at the same time? Well, I cannot walk & WRITE at the same time! (But I am spectacular at each when done separately).

millie - I've been at meltdown threshold too when I'm seriously distracted. I can become frustrated, not with the one speaking, but because I'm in DEEP THOUGHT and cannot be distracted when I'm in that mode of focus.

btw: I guess most (?) of you know, but what about those 3 wristbands our kind can wear, as an indicator? Are you aware? I think I need a set, really:

green = Yes, you may engage me (like with speech); I'm friendly/approachable now.
yellow = Conditional. You may speak but I reserve the right to not respond - approach with caution.
red = Stop. Please do not disturb me (already disturbed)! In deep thought or feeling 'melty,' stay away.

Often I cannot express this so I think the colored wristbands have practical use.

Well, far better than, "Shut up! I'm thinking - and not about you."