aspie unable to be articulate

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I find that I am not articulate at all in describing my feelings and thoughts both orally and manually. I have also been living in an English speaking country since I was four and even earned college credit for AP English in high school.

I am definitely above average in intelligence and excel(at least that's what other people say) in science and math.

In fact, I read some posts by other people on this site and find many people here are more clear than me in describing how they are feeling and giving suggestions. When I post suggestions on other people's topics, I usually never leave long posts since I find it becomes very vague and sentences don't follow one another.

Although I am perfectly clear in how I am feeling, I just can't seem to describe it. It seems that everything in my mind is completely unorganized but I know intuitively exactly what is going on. I also tend to think very abstractly but have no problems in describing some idea that is purely logical. When I try to convert my ideas to words, it just doesn't come out in properly.

It took me about five minutes to write this.

Does anyone else face similar issues? Is this an aspie side-effect?

I sound quite stupid when I speak and have trouble articulating thoughts but am lucky that I work in an environment where my written output is seen as evidence of my abilities. I have a good job that I got into by reputation, but if I applied for a job where the people did not know me I would be turned down flat.

Sometimes I am able to articulate myself verbally with no problem, at other times I am tongue tied. I think it depends on how fast my brain is processing a thought. The slower my brain is working, the easier it is to get what I'm thinking out. If my mind is racing, then no one knows what the heck I'm talking about.

As far as articulating myself writing, I have no problems. It is much easier for me to write than to speak most of the time.

It takes me awhile too which is why I prefer writing since I can take time to think. Talking is more difficult because I don't have as much time to think. And I've always had more trouble talking about feelings and emotions. I think it's part of AS.

I'm exactly the same - even down to excelling in math and earning AP credit in english. But I am quite slow at articulating thoughts and even slower at getting them organized on paper.

When I was diagnosed the dr even noted this - high verbal capability but difficult at expression...

Describing my feelings and emotions verbally is something that I have always [and still do] have extreme trouble with.
I can be talking fine and when someone asks a question related to how I feel about something...I just don't have any idea of what to say and usually end up saying a bunch of "word salad".

I am better at expressing myself in writing, though. Although I still have several things that I just can't explain no matter how hard that I try in writing or verbally.

Yes, this is definately an AS thing [unless you are diagnosed with something else that his this sign].

The story of my life .

In writing you sound very articulate. At least you manage to portray your thoughts effectively eventually.

You seem very articulate in your writing. I feel like I can understand what you're trying to say.

I have a very difficult time articulating my thoughts and feelings verbally. Every time I finish speaking, I find that I didn't say everything I wanted to say, I made poor word choices, or I phrased things in a way that was vague , negative, or even offensive.

Written articulation seems to come naturally to me. I rarely need to re-type my sentences. I start typing and begin to express my thoughts in a logical progression. I stop when I am finished, and am usually very concise. I don't know why I can do this when writing, but not when speaking. I think it's purely environmental. I think it can be difficult when you are trying to listen to what another person is saying, pick up on their physical and verbal cues, and respond quickly enough to hold up your end of a conversation. And this is when you're only speaking to one person at a time!

I'm trying to get better at keeping up with the flow of a conversation, but until people start speaking in complete paragraphs, and then stand and wait patiently for me to think of a response and start speaking, I'll never be great at it.

Five minutes is a short post for me. Try 15-30 minutes and I still have dissociated sentences. On a positive note, we know how to cuddle.

Heh.

I was going to say the same thing. I usually ponder what I'm going to say, write it out, ponder some more, re-write, ponder, edit, ponder, re-edit, and ponder again. All that averages about 20 minutes.

This post took eight minutes, and I was thinking about what I'd say before I hit the quote button...

Not all Aspies are not articulate. I can be quite outgoing around the right type of people.

Tim

Don't you mean "Not all Aspies are inarticulate?"

If I speak, I quite sound like I'm stoned of my socks.
Just the other day I had to call in my doc for something, and he though I was having some kind of mental issues

But in written form, I'm quite articulate. I think it has to do with the general pressure and speed of spoken communication, there is no delete button.

I'm not good at expressing myself through words, whether it's in conversation or in writing. I usually speak using very simple terms. And if I'm writing, I sometimes get stuck in trying to choose the "right" word to express what I'm trying to say.

I'm not nearly as articulate as I'd like to be.

Dont use no double negatives!

Im not so great at talking, Im sure I come across as a little stupid sometimes. Also sometimes Id say something then after realise I forgot to mention to what in particular I was talking about. However when talking about something Im interested in boy I can talk! When talking about emotions I guess I just dont know what to say so say the bare minimum. When writing Im better but sentence flow is a bit off, or disjointed. I read a few forums and sometimes Id write a long post, re-read it and think that it is too disjointed and just scrap it. It takes a lot of editing and rewriting whole paragraphs to try and write fluid paragraphs.

I'm with you Sort30030. I also need time to pick words and order them, so I am well understood in writing but not in real life. In real life I use lots of gestures, and common expressions, and just kind of string sentences together about important details.
I think it's because we don't think in spoken English. The language of the brain is not the same as that which the outside world uses, and so our thoughts need to be "translated" into speech. If you are in conversation with someone, you don't have time to translate your thoughts perfectly... and I don't know if that can ever be mastered in someone that has AS. But I have found that a lot of conversations use the same terms, so you can learn to talk smoothly, but only in shallow conversations.