One of the most interesting and infuriating side effects of having autism is how it affects my sense of humour. My friends say that I have a dry, dark sense of humour and I agree with that assessment. A lot of my close friends really enjoy my observations about things and appreciate my ability to see the humour in uncomfortable situations. I also have no trouble understanding stand up comedians or comedy in other entertainment. I watch a lot of comedy shows so I do get the spectrum of comedy. However when it comes to socialising with people on a day to day basis, I'm usually the last one to get the joke.
I don't really know why it's difficult for me to make the distinction between serious conversation and when people are joking. Maybe it's because it's because I don't expect it. My former employers (who loved to have a good banter) were totally perplexed by it and it made working with my colleagues very awkward. It was difficult for me to be jovial when I needed to concentrate on my work. It's like I can't expend extra cognitive energy into being funny when a million things need to get done.
I also just went to a party the other day and loads of people thought I was joking when I was talking about serious topics and thought I was serious when I was trying to be funny. I also felt a bit frustrated because when I was trying to impart knowledge on a topic and a certain friend of mine would completely dominate the conversation and turn it into a joke (but that's a different topic entirely).
The point being is that it's utterly confusing that in some contexts I completely understand comedy and in others I totally don't get it. What's that all about?
12 Sep 2016, 4:22 am
