15/09/2026
It takes up a Loooooooot of cognitive labour when we are trying to communicate with other people, while accounting for every piece of nuance and context that we feel we need to share or address. I know for myself, I used to be someone who does this, and now, I do it significantly less and I've realised how much cognitive space I have left in my brain. I am thinking of all the context and nuance, but no longer sharing it out loud. When you are an Autistic or ADHD person (especially if there's a history of social and interpersonal microtraumas), prefacing with context can be really helpful to ensure other people have all the information, as well as reducing our chances of exposing ourselves to more potential microtraumas. simultaneously though, we may be preventing ourselves from having conversations with people that could also ask questions or clarify with us. What I mean by this is, SHARE THE COGNITIVE LOAD! Some people will misunderstand you, no matter how much you explain detail and context BUT there are also people who will happily listen and ask questions if they are confused, or need more information. I'd love to hear your thoughts. obviously easier said than done, but I thought I'd start the conversation here.