As long as I can remember, I have had great difficulty in calling people by their first name. It feels wrong, not like 2+2=5 but like 2+2=infinity. It feels completely unnatural. I often call others by Miss or Mr. followed by their first or last name. That seems to quell the uneasiness, using a title.
Early on, I thought that maybe it was just a sign of respect, my formality with titles. After all, I had to call teachers with a title and even aunts and uncles weren't spoken to without the Aunt or Uncle in front of their given name. As I've gotten older, the age/ respect idea seems to have left. With people younger than me, I continue to prefer not calling them by first name, either using a gender title or calling them by their full name. Most people don't object or even question my odd manner of addressing them.
I'm not sure why I have AdIs, addressing issues, other than I've seen this dilemma posted on other autism sites, so I'm going to chalk it up to being autistic.
This seems to be an absent or little writ characteristic of some of us on the autism spectrum. Just another one of those little things, small difficulties that make each day more of a challenge.
Funny example, I went to my local Urgent Care and was treated by a PA, physicians assistant. I kept trying to call her "doctor" and she would repeatedly correct me and give me her first name. Well, of course I couldn't call a professional by her first name, so I eliminated the problem by not calling her anything at all.
I've had a therapist for, oh, 6 months now. I can't say her first name to her face either, even with all the time we've spent together. I either call her Miss ***** or by her first and last name.
Funny, isn't it? How autism can turn something so simple into something near impossible. AsId Addressing Issues
Early on, I thought that maybe it was just a sign of respect, my formality with titles. After all, I had to call teachers with a title and even aunts and uncles weren't spoken to without the Aunt or Uncle in front of their given name. As I've gotten older, the age/ respect idea seems to have left. With people younger than me, I continue to prefer not calling them by first name, either using a gender title or calling them by their full name. Most people don't object or even question my odd manner of addressing them.
I'm not sure why I have AdIs, addressing issues, other than I've seen this dilemma posted on other autism sites, so I'm going to chalk it up to being autistic.
This seems to be an absent or little writ characteristic of some of us on the autism spectrum. Just another one of those little things, small difficulties that make each day more of a challenge.
Funny example, I went to my local Urgent Care and was treated by a PA, physicians assistant. I kept trying to call her "doctor" and she would repeatedly correct me and give me her first name. Well, of course I couldn't call a professional by her first name, so I eliminated the problem by not calling her anything at all.
I've had a therapist for, oh, 6 months now. I can't say her first name to her face either, even with all the time we've spent together. I either call her Miss ***** or by her first and last name.
Funny, isn't it? How autism can turn something so simple into something near impossible. AsId Addressing Issues
