How Neurodiversity Affects Improv And Comedy: Being Misunderstood

Neurodivergent humans might communicate in a different way, a way that is difficult for neurotypical humans to understand. Different social communication styles not necessarily a deficit, and it’s not a pathology - it’s a difference. However, having difficulty communicating in a way other people understand it can be frustrating and isolating.

Because we’re misunderstood. And we don’t want to be! And it’s often why we mask.

There’s scientific study regarding being misunderstood too! In this episode I’ll talk about these studies (and they’re linked below).

I’ll also describe how this impacts improv scenes in different types of improv (oh my gosh I’m going to talk about dramatic longform narrative… WHAT). In future episodes I’ll talk about how this impacts improv teams and communities.

I am mostly going to describe autistic/allistic communication because the differences have been described in research. However, you can apply these communication differences to many different demographics. For example, communication across neurotypes has been compared to cross-cultural communication. It’s relevant in many contexts.

And I also want to note — of COURSE everyone is misunderstood, sometimes. As with many things in this series about neurodiversity we are talking about the complexity, intensity, and frequency of these situations.

Avoiding misunderstanding takes a lot of work. We need to attempt to avoid making assumptions, jumping to conclusions, and inquire if we hear something that might not make sense. Or is considered overly direct or whatnot. Or doesn't make sense.

Ask and answer questions or seek clarification. And listen to the response you receive! And, if it seems to be in good faith, take it as such.

Some of the studies I talked about

* Autism and the double empathy problem: Implications for development and mental health

* Perspective-taking is two-sided: Misunderstandings between people with Asperger's syndrome and their family members

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