What causes one to say the opposite word?

Post Reply New Topic

Since I was a child I sometimes say the opposite word from what my brain is thinking. For instance, I want to say something is hot and then I say cold instead. Example, the other day I entered a room and said this " It is dark in here" I meant to say "It is bright in here. Or sometimes when approaching a door I try to open it from the wrong side. It takes me a few seconds to realize the reason why I can't open the door. Also, when I prepare to drive my car sometimes I put the car in reverse instead drive. It seems like the channels in brain brain sometimes get reversed. Also, when I write something such as this paragraph and then proof read it, there are many sentence have to correct because what I typed was completely opposite from what I meant or intended to say. Is there a name for this disorder and is it due to high functioning autism? Is there anyone else that has this problem?

I do a similar thing.

I do all of the things you mentioned. Not sure why though. Also, I often use the wrong word for things, even though I know the rignt one. It's like a glitch in transmission .

What happens to me is I try to say 2 or 3 similar words at the same time and mix them up. Like the other day I said "I need to trip my hair" (snip + trim). Luckily I was just babbling to myself and no one else heard me.

I've always had trouble with opposites. My mother used to say I was "wired backwards".

Recent ASD specialists have said it's related and I'm missing social cues that would better differentiate between opposites. (More of my responses are nonverbal, because speech is difficult for me. So, my case had been focused on reception rather than expression, as you are.)

However, I have a different theory. I think that I often think more holistically, and that opposites are stored more closely together in my brain than in others. To me, the opposites are two sides of a coin. It's easiest for me to identify that we are talking about a coin. It's harder for me to correctly identify which side and I hold a lower priority of importance for determining which side.

My wife, who is NT, does that.

My wife, who is NT, does that.

I do it too. It's a word retrieval problem for me.
Words like "hot" and "cold" are stored very closely in my brain because they are both words for temperature, and sometimes I'll reach for one but get another.
It's exactly the same reason why I get pronouns wrong if I'm tired or trying to speak in a hurry. It's nothing to do with social cues or "not being able to distinguish between myself and others " or whatever else researchers have spouted without actually ever talking to autistic people.
(Sorry for the rant; it just really bugs me when the whole of autism is reduced to a social problem when the social issues are just a symptom, not the root cause.)

Yes, and it causes me to stutter a little because I try to correct myself as I am saying the word.

Example: "I was just wondering; um, should I co... heat it up first?"

I especially mix up the words "here" and "there". I think that every day I say "here. Sorry, I mean there", or the other way around.

This is interesting. I don't say opposite words (I don't think), but many times I'll mix words up, "The eye has a tree!" or something equally silly. Or at work, I have to ask if someone wants sauce for their burrito or wants hotcakes with their big breakfast. "Did you want the sauc... uh, hotcakes with your burrit... um, big breakfast?" Sometimes words get pronounced halfway or with some weird accent despite my intent to pronounce it properly. lol

I do that fairly often. It's usually when I'm replying to someone in a polite work/social conversation and I end up blending words in what should be a really simple straight forward response to something. I've never had anyone call me out on it. Either they're being polite, or aren't sure I miss-spoke, OR what's more likely is that they're not fully paying attention anyways and the only thing that matters is that I made a timely attempt to communicate something nice and they picked up on it and that's all that matters. It's most likely that, now that I think about it for a second. Most of what's communicated in conversations is by body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice vs. actual words, anyways.

I do that opposite word thing every now and then and I always wondered why as well. I especially do it if I am tired. I mix up words too not just opposites. I will get a lot of words in reverse like saying stem valve instead of valve stem. And sometimes I have a very slight stutter if I am having trouble getting the words out. I also speak very quickly sometimes but I noticed that I stumble more with words when I try to speak more slowly and concisely then if I speak at my natural too fast pace. I also noticed that when I type, I can type letters in reverse or sometimes I skip words or even entire phrases. My mind thinks them but my fingers don't type them and I don't notice until I have proofread sometimes three or four times.

Hi Skibum,

My MY wife states opposites of what she meant sometimes

Hi Kraftie.