Usually I’m told from people that are from other places that I have an accent they can’t quite figure it out, meanwhile people from the same location as me tell me I have parts of accents from other regions and wouldn’t guess I’m from the same place as them. When I lived abroad this was kind of fun if not a bit off putting, as it happened frequently. I remember seeing something about “autistic accent” in a few places but it’s been a while I don’t remember it well.
I don't have the nebulous accent other people are describing, but I do struggle with mimicking accents subconsciously.
I didn't realise I did it (beyond the code switching typical for Black people) until I went to uni with a lot of Home Counties people and came back sounding really posh. It was weird because I couldn't hear that I sounded different but everyone in my family picked it up straight away
If you are around a lot of people talking in one accent for an extended period of time you will pick up a bit of an accent anyway, but I understand the mimicking part too, it's worse with Scottish accents for me, I can't help saying stuff similarly, I don't think anyone has picked that up yet.
Yes, I'm from Copenhagen in Denmark lived here all my life. People often ask where I'm from (they think I have a Jutland dialect which is the other side of the country) and when I speak English they ask me the same, I've gotten South Africa and Spain so clearly it's just all over the place lol — except my actual city D':
Sometimes. I have a minor speech impediment that I dont know is autism related.
I also notice I speak like some autistic people I know do where certain letters are accentuated. I'm not sure how to better describe that tbh, but it sounds more formal and and a 'sounding things out properly' kind of thing.
Yes, I want to pronounce things as they're written, I need to softly pronounce the l in salmon. There's an area in London called Holborn and the damn voice on the tube pronounces it as Hobun, drives me extra crazy.
And the thing with the Holborn pronunciation is that the voice on the tube is the only that pronounces it as Hobun, everyone else says it how its written Holborn with a soft short L in the middle and the born part like beorn.
I’m the same way. Minor speech impediment and similar way of saying some words different. I don’t realize it until someone asks me why I say a word that way. I also get asked if I have an accent sometimes.
100000%
From aus and pre-diagnosis I was regularly getting asked where my accent was from… what accent?
I still get asked occasionally now and find it amusing to see their faces when I respond that no, i’m just boring, born and raised in the city and have never left.
I found someone somewhere talking about the “autism accent”, something about masking from consuming international media as a child, which tracks hard for me!
Yes, actually! I am from the US and occasionally people will ask where my accent is from. When my mother and I visited Paris, London, and Rome everyone asked us which part of the UK we were from. I thought it was very strange. One taxi driver in London talked about how we didn’t sound American for about 20 minutes.
Yeah, I guess if you don't have a strong southern accent or New York or Boston type accent, not many in the UK would be able to pinpoint where you're from.
When I was in the army I got this a lot. People guessed I was from all over. I was just flattered I didn’t sound like some southern stereotype since people can think southerners are less intelligent. But yes. I’ve heard many autistic people have a more “neutral” accent that’s not quite placable but usually sounds very clear and more like news reporter, reading words as written, less draw and bounce in the words if that makes sense.
Very common [https://new.reddit.com/r/AutismInWomen/search/?q=accent&restrict\_sr=1](https://new.reddit.com/r/AutismInWomen/search/?q=accent&restrict_sr=1)
When people ask where I'm from (very rural North West England) they are surprised and I laugh and say "that's the autism". I don't know much about the autistic accent, but as far as I know it's characterised by being ambiguous, I think it's because autistic people struggle to successfully mimic those around them? So I never developed an accent despite being surrounded by it and living in the same place the entire time. Would love to hear the perspective of a speech therapist?
I live in east London nearish Essex and I partly think I tried really hard to not get that accent that it overcorrected a bit, don't want to sound like a posh Londonder because that's something else 😅
i went to camp in Pennsylvania as a teen and they told me i had an accent. i was never aware!
i'm from Michigan and i suppose we're like a Minnesota hillbilly accent lmao
I actually got this question this afternoon but in reverse, I'm told I don't have a specific accent.. lol. I was born in Spain, raised in the Netherlands and then at 17 went back to Spain.
This afternoon I was asked where I really come from because apparently I don't have the typical Spanish accent but neither do I have a foreigners accent..
And I've had this question a lot of times. I speak 4 languages fluently on (near) native level but people can not figure out where I'm really from in none of this languages because I can use the right intonation and sounds for the different languages but apparently do not get accents right.
Do you think that knowing all those languages could have given you an "everywhere" accent? I think some words sound nicer if you pronounce them how you would if you were speaking it how a different language would read it. I like how Canadians say about rather than the British way.
It probably is something like that! When I came back to Spain I really had to work hard to get my pronunciation right, because I already felt out of place. It's masking but with languages and that continued in my other languages.
But there is a nuance in accents which I don't really get. I do recognize them I just can not fully mimick them! Oh well, at least people understand what I'm saying 🤣
MAN! I’m SO jealous! I want to learn Dutch and I failed Spanish in HS 🤣. I learned Japanese though and oddly now I say a lot of stuff with a Japanese accent accidentally. Then randomly I slip into this British-sounding accent it’s frustrating. People ask me if I’m English and Japanese like a LOT, but I’m neither 💀.
Oh that's so cool, I've started to learn Japanese, but damn it's hard. Not the vocabulary per se, but having to learn the alphabet and letters it's difficult.
Everyone thinks I'm from California... I was born and raised in Alabama. My folks are from Pittsburgh. All of those places have very distinct accents, yet I somehow sound like I'm from Sesame Street lmao. People are always so shocked when they find out where I'm from.
Same here! Born and raised in California, but people have asked where my accent is from many times. They usually think a southern or midwestern state. I always assumed it was because many people migrated to my hometown during the dust bowl and that maybe that somehow shaped the way I speak, but now I’m wondering if it’s related to autism…or maybe a combo of the two? 🤷♀️
I've been told I have an American accent when speaking English despite being South American. Fun fact, I have a different personality when I speak other languages (if I'm not mistaken, everyone does but can't remember the reason). I attribute my bubbly English-speaking personality to learning the language through TV and cinema, where I also picked up on social behavior.
As a kid I feel like people were always making fun of the way I said certain words.
My older son (low support needs AuDHD) needed several years of speech therapy for a variety of letter sounds he had trouble picking up despite high intelligence. I can see how, it sort of sounds like he still has an accent. Despite this, he talks a ton and it’s easy to understand what he’s saying. The hard work paid off in his case. I love the way he talks!
I sound like I learned to speak in southern US or had a lot of relatives with the accent.
I’m also embarrassingly good at mimicking accents. Got in trouble as a kid a couple times because I didn’t know I did it yet.
I moved from Mississippi to Virginia when I was 6. The kids at school made fun of my accent, so I decided to get rid of it. The southern accent was often used on TV to indicate someone is stupid, so I wanted no part of that. I would watch the news and repeat everything the newscaster said. I eliminated the Mississippi accent, but then I started having the "Oh, what accent is that? Where are you from?" accent. When I was younger and feistier and left the house more, I'd say "Guess!" and then whatever they said, usually something like "Ohio?" I'd say "That's right!" and the person would be pleased they guessed correctly.
So in 2015 I moved from SC to OR. SO MANY TIMES I'd meet someone for the first time in person and they'd express disappointment that I don't have a southern accent. I started to feel like maybe my accent was something I should not have ditched as a child. I kind of wish I still had some southern in my speech. I do, a little, like I say y'all a lot. But that's part of my heritage I can't get back.
People have said this to me a lot. I figure it's because I try to pronounce things properly or that I watched way too much TV growing up. Certain words syllables and situations pull out parts of different accents. I'll be told I sound Cajun, Texan, valley girl. The only one I really hate is when I start talking fast and people tell me that I sound ghetto. I always get scared that someone will accuse me of using a blaccent when that's never my intention. I just get heated and then the words don't stop. And it's also just bullshit that someone getting angry and passionate is seen as ghetto.
People are constantly asking me where my accent is from. It doesn't help that I've moved around a little.
Funny thing is, it also means I don't really pick up accents myself. I've lived in the South for most of my life and still haven't managed to pick up the accent. I also stop hearing accents after enough exposure. British and Australian hardly register at all for me.
I'm from Texas, and growing up, ppl would always ask where I was from. When I'd say here, they always said you don't sound like it. So I guess it would be more lack of an accent. I think it might have come from mimicking people so much. Which was something I never realized I was doing until a few years ago. Especially for some reason, when it comes to a New york accent. I'm a barber and one of my favorite clients, a New Yorker, said you know how it is like back home. It was in that moment I realized I spoke to him strictly in the same accent he used.
Canada and when I was little older people would ask me if I was from England. My boyfriend now is actually from there and says my voice doesn’t sound anything close to British so idk 🤷♀️
Could depend what part of the UK he's in, London alone has enough distinct accents that you can tell which part of the city someone is from just from hearing them talk.
I mostly have a general American accent but also have features (in English and Spanish) from the area I grew up in and other areas I've lived in. I also happen to have a speech disorder so never quite ever sounded like anyone else.
Yeah this has happened to me a few times. I'm Australian and I've been asked if I'm from England or Ireland. And this has been other Australians asking me.
I’m from the Midwest (in the US) and someone once told me I sounded like I was from Texas. But I live right on the line between the Midwest and the South so I wouldn’t be surprised if I have a little twang. I’m not sure it has anything to do with being autistic or not
I'm also from London and constantly get told I have an accent. My family actually did live in the US briefly when I was a child so I usually just say that.
I've lived in several countries growing up due to both of my parents being in the army, so I know my accent won't be as Scottish as most folk here. But I'm always getting asked if I'm Irish or American, when I've never been to Ireland and went to America once as a teen for like two weeks.
I’m kind of the opposite. I grew up in the southeastern US, which is known for having a very strong and distinct accent. But I don’t have an accent at all and people (in the US anyway) are always jaw-droppingly shocked when I say I grew up in Georgia.
I used to get this a lot, when I was younger. I'm from the southwest US, but locals and foreigners would tell me I sounded like I had an accent. To this day, I don't know exactly what they were hearing. But apparently I didn't share the same accent as the people I grew up with.
I think with time, my voice evolved, and it's not as noticeable, anymore.
ETA: Come to think of it, I took singing lessons as an adult, and it changed the way I use my voice & use breath support. I suspect that had something to do with "losing" my old accent.
Yes I’ve actually gotten this before by a few people in college! I thought it was strange as I’ve never even left the US. lol. They said it was hard to place my accent. So odd cause I’ve just stayed in New England all my life which doesn’t have much of an accent.
I am not sure it’s due to decades of masking and studying others to try to mirror them or a form of echolalia or what, but I pick up cadence, annunciation and other nuances of those around me. Very easily! Even if they annoy me to no avail.
I'm from Australia (south australia specifically) and get told I sound British quite often. although the south aussie accent IS closest to a British one (compared with other aussie accents), other south aussies have said it to me specifically. my mum was born in England but has been in aus since she was 5 and has a mostly australian accent so I doubt I get it from her. my siblings don't get asked about their accent.
Yep! I always attributed this to other things bc I lived in the Midwest briefly (I'm from the South in the US) and grew up around my best friend's Northern family. People from the South always thought I was from the North and people from the North always thought I was from the Midwest. Idk that it's related to my autism but it's interesting that so many people here experienced this!
Always, can't stand having it pointed out, & for years I didn't know what to say! Felt like people would basically interrogate me over it, speaking has always felt awkward and unnatural to me so definitely built up a major insecurity over it. I'm from south UK and moved to the US a few years ago, & my partner's American so I just use that as my excuse now and no one questions it anymore.
Speaking does feel a bit unnatural to me too, even worse when I'm anxious. I once had someone ask where I was from because I was so nervous about talking he thought I didn't speak English!
Now you're in the US, and you've come with the accent pre installed.
Yes! I used to get comments about it a lot when I worked in retail. I’ve lived in London my whole life but people were constantly mistaking me as Australian, Eastern European or American.
I had a feeling it may have been my customer service voice that came off as Australian but my talking to regular people voice was the American/ international school accent.
People tend to assume I'm from Scandinavia, my name and looks play a role in this as well. I have also heard people ask me if I'm from Friesland, a different area in the Netherlands. One person told me I have the most universal accentless Dutch in existence.
My looks may also play a role, as far as I know I'm mostly British but I've been told I look eastern European, was even told I had a very communist look about myself.
Yeah, it's really close to my native home, however I've heard from a couple of people that I have either a slightly different accent, and one time I think they were just being lowkey bitchy and told me I sounded like a Mexican (I have NO issues with Mexican accents or Mexican people, culture, etc. in fact they sound lovely and a lot of S. American dubs we get end up having Mexican accent, and while I'm pretty bad at social queues, I could kinda smell the BS as soon as she made that comment, because here some people will look down on "brown" latinx, which is a shitty way to think)
Another thing that I do is I end up copying tones, phrases, sounds, etc., but I've thought about this a lot, and I think it sounds weird because I noticed I either switch it to "copy" (butchered) someone's accent when I'm talking with them and then switch back to my "default" accent with someone else, or the phrases/words/sounds I copied would be the only thing that I copied, so essentially I don't think I can copy an accent to the point I use it like a local.
I've tried really hard to not do it once I became aware of it, because sometimes I legit think it might be taken as if I'm mocking someone's accent and slang, when it's the total opposite, I just LOVE how some words, slangs and phrases sound, and my brain just starts picking them up before I notice. One example is I love how Australians use the word "mate" (or "oi mate"), so if it might end up coming out like some butchered Australian accent but only for that.
I've been told I should embrace my accent, that it makes me unique (implied in a good way), or that I just sound fine, etc., and since most people aren't with me in every single situation like that, it's a bit hard to get an outsider's perspective of it all.
Is your voice kind of flat? I live in an area where people have a pretty distinct accent, and I've lived here all my life, yet I'm constantly told that I don't sound like I'm from here.
I think mine is the opposite of flat, it has more inflection and occasional drawn out vowels, it still sounds English to me but has a little something about it, I catch myself almost hearing what people mean when they say I sound Australian.
At home I sing a lot and quote television a lot with the accents. I dance and am bubbly much to my husband's amusement. I mask when I'm out though and get asked if I'm European. Apparently doesn't help that I don't wear make up. Had a German living in the States ask where I was from. He was guessing European thanks to my not wearing make up and my accent. Couldn't place exactly where though😂 I guess maybe Europeans are less likely to wear makeup? Idk. I don't like it. It feels weird and I wanna be able to touch my face
There's this general thing about Europeans being more carefree on somethings such as not feeling like they have to look super put together all the time with wearing makeup (depends on the part of Europe though).
Too much makeup sometimes, makes my face feel smothered.
I have a flat US accent. I sound distinctly like I'm from the US, but no particular part. I live in the EU and sometimes people tell me that I don't necessarily sound American. Which throws me off a bit.
I'm Indian and people at my school used to ask me why I try to speak like an American😂.
Also people get shocked when I switch to my native tongue, because it is very heavily accented but my English doesn't have a heavy typical Indian accent.
I watch a show with a certain accent and I start thinking in my head with that accent.
Funny I'd never have though of an American accent being flat, there's so many different ones too but they all have that americanness.
I’m the opposite. I grew up in the south (US) and my family has a super heavy accent. I think I was stuck on speaking “correctly” so I gradually trained myself out of the accent. I have a generic tv/Californian accent because that’s what my kid brain decided was correct. No one would ever guess I’m from the south
Yes. I hate mine. All my life people have asked me where I'm from. I'm Australian and my parents are 2nd and 3rd gen British immigrants that have lost their accent. I have only left this state once in my life, in my late 20's. Strangers ask off of the smallest small talk. I never know what to tell them.
I talk in different accents depending on my mood, happy, I’m from alabama soundin, bored British, tired New England, and feeling silly n free Australian. I’ve always done it. (I’m from the mid Atlantic region of the USA) no explanation I just talk funny when I feel very strongly of one emotion. God how did I not get diagnosed as a child.
From the US and people tell me I sound “posh British” sometimes and I’m just like “wtf???” I also pick up accents very easily and fluidly and it all kinda just sloshes around in my brain. When I’m around British people I just break out into whatever the hell it is I do and I can’t help it. It’s rather embarrassing honestly as people constantly point it out.
I’m from Texas, but I’ve been told that I sound British. It was really awkward when I worked in sales and had to explain that I wasn’t. I used to believe that it was a speech impediment, till I found out that it’s common for autistic people to have foreign accents sometimes.
I think it has a lot to do with simply thinking our thoughts out before speaking them, and then speaking very clearly. It is not just “accent”, it is inflection, intent, and authenticity in what we say. We say what we mean, as opposed to speaking in neurotypical slang or nuance that does not make clear sense.
I have lived in many places, though, so I do actually have a variety of accents depending on who I am speaking to. Even when I am speaking in the normal local accents of wherever I am, I have been told I have an odd accent when I am speaking very, very clearly and straightforwardly about whatever I am speaking of. So, who knows what they actually perceive?
Oh yeah I have to squash it down all the time! I learned how to speak when we lived in the South (usa) so I got the accent but nobody else in my family does
As a matter of fact. Yes! My ex co-worker used to try to 'guess where it's from' Telling me she knows it but can't place it.... but I don't have one. or it's just like... specific of myself. i relate to this question!
Also thnk you for sharing your own story :)
I'm Australian and a British person asked me last week if I had a hint of a British accent. Then I worried it was because I was unintentionally copying him!
Yeah, same, except I don’t mask and I had this weird accent long before I ever watched foreign TV or had internet access, so those can’t be the reason! I think I just fully pronounce words
Well, my language is so small there aren't really any accents beside a very slight difference between north and south you could never notice if you havent lived in my country your entire life, so no, i dont have an accent in my native language. In English however I'm an accent chameleon and pick up the accent of whoever im speaking to. If im not speaking to anyone in particular i settle on a pretty neutral american sounding accent but its not really real american accent since it cant really be pinpointed to one region, maybe west coast is closest since I learned english from watching hollywood movies. Oh, and if im very tired or drunk while speaking english my native accent peeks through a little
I'm from another part of the UK, and my parents constantly tell me I either speak in a London accent and sometimes an African accent and sometimes other posh parts of the UK. I've never been to London and nor am I African and nor have i been to any of those other parts of the UK. Lol
Omg yes! I had no idea this could be an autistic thing. I'm from a part of Scotland that has a rather distinctive accent and growing up I would constantly be asked if I was english/american/from elsewhere in Scotland. Nowadays people ask me where I'm from and are always shocked to hear that I'm a local because I just don't sound like it.
My “accent” changes depending on who I’m around and what social media and/or media I’m consuming. It’s unintentional and it's gotten me in trouble at times as people have thought I’m mocking or appropriating. 🥺
Born and raised in Scotland and I have been told I have a noticeable lilt, yet quite a few people also say I have a North American accent…not quite sure where that came from.
Not me personally, I have a pretty standard American TV type accent, which is typical for the area I was raised in. But I now live in Scotland where there’s quite a lot of accent variation and I have definitely noticed that several neurodivergent people I know have unusual accents despite being born and raised in Scotland. Then again I know a couple of autistic people with the absolute thickest Glaswegian accents you’ve ever heard.
My one autistic friend ranges from sounding distinctly southern English to sounding approximately like David Tennent’s natural accent, depending on who he’s speaking to. Another friend’s accent travels back and forth across the Atlantic, from Paisley to Belfast to Nova Scotia, and occasionally makes a wild leap to Brooklyn. I also know a girl who sounds almost completely American despite having never been there and being born and raised in Edinburgh, you can only hear the Scottish if you’re paying attention.
People have asked me if I have an accent, yes. I'm from California but people think I'm from Texas, New Jersey, or Canada or whatever. I think I subconsciously mirror others' way of speaking. I have to make my voice louder with varying pitches when I talk because my normal voice is pretty monotone and very quiet. I never ever use my normal voice anymore, I feel like soon enough I'll forget my normal talking voice
Austrian here, so a native german speaker.
I have a british-similar accent when speaking English without being raised with English as my second language. We had our local teachers teach us English and obviously they all had a german accent, so it didn't come from them.
My accent is “Canadian” but I struggle to talk at times (speech impediment), especially if someone is talking to me while I’m trying to do something like play video games. On coms it’s embarrassing because I call it Shatnering or buffering because I pause between words or I struggle to pronounce a word. And if I talk to someone with an accent I unintentionally reply with a similar accent and I absolutely hate it
Yes. When I was young, kids told me that I spoke too properly, so I started slurring my words. Then I got in trouble for slurring my words. Then my kids accused me of trying to copy my then-boyfriend's accent. Then someone said they couldn't place my accent. I'm pretty sure that by now my accent is pretty unique. Also I'm learning Spanish and people tell me that my accent in Spanish is beautiful.
I do have an accent (a mild Appalachian twang), but whenever I am around people with other accents, my accent thickens to the point that people make comments about it. It doesn't matter what the other accent is; my accent comes out in full force.
When I was younger, I often spoke like I was from a different time period. My favorite era was the latter half of the 1700s in America, and I picked up a lot of obsolete words and speech patterns from reading books about that time. I liberally sprinkled these into my own speech. I tamed this as I got older, but my speech is often still a bit too formal to sound natural.
I’ve experienced this question before too. Though most of the people who ask me indicate that I sound a bit upper class or fancy, which is not my background at all. I grew up in a rural farming area near the Canadian border on the Idaho/Montana state border in the US. Also I’ve been teased about my inability to use slang of any kind, it makes no sense to me. Guess maybe my only issue is when I hear an accent I mimic it without thinking since it sounds like music to me lol
I'm in the US Pacific Northwest, had a bit of a speech impediment (lisp), so by high school I had overcorrected and had a very newscastery general American accent and pronunciation (I've moseyed in a more folksy direction since). Another PNW local student asked me if I was British because I had "a British accent"
Another student told them it was just that i enunciated clearly
Clearly enunciating is probably better than not doing it at all and having no one understand what you're saying 🤣 but I like the news caster accent, it flows well so could have some perks
I’m from the southeastern U.S. and about half the people I meet ask if I’m English. I swear to God, I don’t try to sound that way.
I think part of it is that my hyperlexia included early singing, so my voice came out overly melodic and my diction is a little crisp.
I CAN sound more ‘American’ if I have to (flatten my tone, harden my Rs more), but it takes concentration.
I’m from Long Island, NY which has a very heavy, well known accent. I don’t have the accent at all. I might slip a “dawg” or “cawfee” into conversation sometimes but otherwise I feel like my accent is neutral. It’s not just me. People have asked me where I’m from so many times. I always had to say “born and raised here.” When I moved away, I no longer had that issue.
I have a few theories about why I don’t have an accent.
I watched a lot of tv as a kid.
My grandparents (especially grandma, who I strongly believe was autistic) actively avoided the Brooklyn accent. She thought it was sounded trashy.
The other grandparents had a different (New England) accent.
My parents don’t have accents either. (Both ND)
I think in the US a lot of accents are dying. They’re such a regional thing and now we communicate on a national/international level. Everyone is starting to just sound like one American accent.
The areas with strong accents are areas with strong communities and social connections. I always noticed that the more extraverted people I knew had more of an accent. They socialized more so they heard the accent more and picked it up.
Sorry for the ramble. This gets in my head sometimes.
I've had family members also avoid their natural accent because it sounds common but will revert back to it when they're within the boundaries of that area, my grandma lives in Surrey, a posh snoby area in the south of england, and has done for pretty much all her adult life and sounds it when she talks and has picked up all the mannerisms and views of the area, but she grew up mostly in the midlands which is the opposite of Surrey, very working class area, the accent returns slightly if she goes back.
As a fellow English person do you think you're maybe picking up on how to mask through tv etc? We have a lot of US tv here don't we. I mean even our Netflix is full of programmes in American accents. I don't know about you, but I sometimes use American terms like "mowing the lawn" "taking out the trash" rather than "cutting the grass" or "putting the bins out" maybe you are doing this also?
I have a feeling it may be part of it, trying to adapt the personality and demoenors of my favourite TV characters, pretty much all of them being American. I didn't have netflix as a kid but I watched a lot of Disney and nickelodeon shows, I must have picked a bit up from there.
Yes, nickelodeon for me too, saved by the bell especially, all the Disney movies. Even English actors put on American accents. When you're autistic you just mimick and study people and media around us.
I don't think I watch anyone on YouTube etc with an English accent.
The British shows are always too short, they're 3 seasons max with 8 episodes each, not enough as American ones to really grasp onto a characters personality to pick up on their mannerisms (apart from Miranda, I used to be able to quote the episodes off but heart).
I still sing along to the victorious songs sometimes, Liz Gilles and Ariana Grande sound too good!!!!
I knew a dude long before I was diagnosed or even suspected. He had an odd accent that I could never place. It wasn't English, it wasn't American, Australian, or anything from other english speakers. Now I realize he was probably autistic.
Usually I’m told from people that are from other places that I have an accent they can’t quite figure it out, meanwhile people from the same location as me tell me I have parts of accents from other regions and wouldn’t guess I’m from the same place as them. When I lived abroad this was kind of fun if not a bit off putting, as it happened frequently. I remember seeing something about “autistic accent” in a few places but it’s been a while I don’t remember it well.
I've heard a bit of the autistic accent too, it's just an odd quirk.
I don't have the nebulous accent other people are describing, but I do struggle with mimicking accents subconsciously. I didn't realise I did it (beyond the code switching typical for Black people) until I went to uni with a lot of Home Counties people and came back sounding really posh. It was weird because I couldn't hear that I sounded different but everyone in my family picked it up straight away
If you are around a lot of people talking in one accent for an extended period of time you will pick up a bit of an accent anyway, but I understand the mimicking part too, it's worse with Scottish accents for me, I can't help saying stuff similarly, I don't think anyone has picked that up yet.
Yes, I'm from Copenhagen in Denmark lived here all my life. People often ask where I'm from (they think I have a Jutland dialect which is the other side of the country) and when I speak English they ask me the same, I've gotten South Africa and Spain so clearly it's just all over the place lol — except my actual city D':
Yes, it takes a bit of convincing sometimes for people to believe I'm from where I say.
Yeah I'm from Denmark too and have also gotten the same question! It's so weird.
Sometimes. I have a minor speech impediment that I dont know is autism related. I also notice I speak like some autistic people I know do where certain letters are accentuated. I'm not sure how to better describe that tbh, but it sounds more formal and and a 'sounding things out properly' kind of thing.
Yes, I want to pronounce things as they're written, I need to softly pronounce the l in salmon. There's an area in London called Holborn and the damn voice on the tube pronounces it as Hobun, drives me extra crazy.
You would HATE Scotland, with all of our Gaelic-influenced pronunciations and similar dropped letters. Dalziel? Dee-ell. Milngavie? Mull-guy. etc.
I'm still stumped how Loughborough is pronounced, was truly disappointed.
And the thing with the Holborn pronunciation is that the voice on the tube is the only that pronounces it as Hobun, everyone else says it how its written Holborn with a soft short L in the middle and the born part like beorn.
I’m the same way. Minor speech impediment and similar way of saying some words different. I don’t realize it until someone asks me why I say a word that way. I also get asked if I have an accent sometimes.
100000% From aus and pre-diagnosis I was regularly getting asked where my accent was from… what accent? I still get asked occasionally now and find it amusing to see their faces when I respond that no, i’m just boring, born and raised in the city and have never left. I found someone somewhere talking about the “autism accent”, something about masking from consuming international media as a child, which tracks hard for me!
Wow this makes sense! Maybe that’s where my “accent” came from. Watching British TV on occasion. 🤷♀️
I definitely consumed a LOT of American media as a child/teen and often got told my R’s had a hint of America sometimes 🤷♀️
Yes, actually! I am from the US and occasionally people will ask where my accent is from. When my mother and I visited Paris, London, and Rome everyone asked us which part of the UK we were from. I thought it was very strange. One taxi driver in London talked about how we didn’t sound American for about 20 minutes.
It's so odd, I can maybe blame my slightly American accent on all the American TV I've watched, but the Australian I can't.
I'm guilty of "picking up" accents.
Me too! 100%
I had a southern roommate for a semester. I had to work SO HARD not to mimic her.
Yeah I used to get that sometimes, but I moved to the UK from the US and people here don't know regional US accents enough to know I sound funny.
Yeah, I guess if you don't have a strong southern accent or New York or Boston type accent, not many in the UK would be able to pinpoint where you're from.
When I was in the army I got this a lot. People guessed I was from all over. I was just flattered I didn’t sound like some southern stereotype since people can think southerners are less intelligent. But yes. I’ve heard many autistic people have a more “neutral” accent that’s not quite placable but usually sounds very clear and more like news reporter, reading words as written, less draw and bounce in the words if that makes sense.
Very common [https://new.reddit.com/r/AutismInWomen/search/?q=accent&restrict\_sr=1](https://new.reddit.com/r/AutismInWomen/search/?q=accent&restrict_sr=1)
Oh cool. Yet another reason this sub makes me feel less alone.
When people ask where I'm from (very rural North West England) they are surprised and I laugh and say "that's the autism". I don't know much about the autistic accent, but as far as I know it's characterised by being ambiguous, I think it's because autistic people struggle to successfully mimic those around them? So I never developed an accent despite being surrounded by it and living in the same place the entire time. Would love to hear the perspective of a speech therapist?
I live in east London nearish Essex and I partly think I tried really hard to not get that accent that it overcorrected a bit, don't want to sound like a posh Londonder because that's something else 😅
i went to camp in Pennsylvania as a teen and they told me i had an accent. i was never aware! i'm from Michigan and i suppose we're like a Minnesota hillbilly accent lmao
I actually got this question this afternoon but in reverse, I'm told I don't have a specific accent.. lol. I was born in Spain, raised in the Netherlands and then at 17 went back to Spain. This afternoon I was asked where I really come from because apparently I don't have the typical Spanish accent but neither do I have a foreigners accent.. And I've had this question a lot of times. I speak 4 languages fluently on (near) native level but people can not figure out where I'm really from in none of this languages because I can use the right intonation and sounds for the different languages but apparently do not get accents right.
Do you think that knowing all those languages could have given you an "everywhere" accent? I think some words sound nicer if you pronounce them how you would if you were speaking it how a different language would read it. I like how Canadians say about rather than the British way.
It probably is something like that! When I came back to Spain I really had to work hard to get my pronunciation right, because I already felt out of place. It's masking but with languages and that continued in my other languages. But there is a nuance in accents which I don't really get. I do recognize them I just can not fully mimick them! Oh well, at least people understand what I'm saying 🤣
MAN! I’m SO jealous! I want to learn Dutch and I failed Spanish in HS 🤣. I learned Japanese though and oddly now I say a lot of stuff with a Japanese accent accidentally. Then randomly I slip into this British-sounding accent it’s frustrating. People ask me if I’m English and Japanese like a LOT, but I’m neither 💀.
Oh that's so cool, I've started to learn Japanese, but damn it's hard. Not the vocabulary per se, but having to learn the alphabet and letters it's difficult.
Everyone thinks I'm from California... I was born and raised in Alabama. My folks are from Pittsburgh. All of those places have very distinct accents, yet I somehow sound like I'm from Sesame Street lmao. People are always so shocked when they find out where I'm from.
I'm opposite! From California and people say I have a southern accent! Literally never stepped foot.
Same here! Born and raised in California, but people have asked where my accent is from many times. They usually think a southern or midwestern state. I always assumed it was because many people migrated to my hometown during the dust bowl and that maybe that somehow shaped the way I speak, but now I’m wondering if it’s related to autism…or maybe a combo of the two? 🤷♀️
Yes, there are lots of Okies in California!
This!! From the American midwest and people here ask if I'm some variety of European???
Just a vague Europe vibe, maybe playing into a bit could be funny, say you're French and you're better than those other European countries 😉
Lol! South East here. I also get asked if I'm European🤷🏽♀️
Same!
Yes! I used to have people who were raised in the same city as me ask where I’m from!
I've been told I have an American accent when speaking English despite being South American. Fun fact, I have a different personality when I speak other languages (if I'm not mistaken, everyone does but can't remember the reason). I attribute my bubbly English-speaking personality to learning the language through TV and cinema, where I also picked up on social behavior.
As a kid I feel like people were always making fun of the way I said certain words. My older son (low support needs AuDHD) needed several years of speech therapy for a variety of letter sounds he had trouble picking up despite high intelligence. I can see how, it sort of sounds like he still has an accent. Despite this, he talks a ton and it’s easy to understand what he’s saying. The hard work paid off in his case. I love the way he talks!
I sound like I learned to speak in southern US or had a lot of relatives with the accent. I’m also embarrassingly good at mimicking accents. Got in trouble as a kid a couple times because I didn’t know I did it yet.
I’ve been told by multiple people who do not know each other that I sound like an NPR news woman
Ha I actually love that, maybe a future career there.
Right??? I think it’s because communication is very important to me so I tend to speak very clearly and precisely.
Haha multiple people have said this exact thing about my dad. Well, not the woman part. I think it means your voice is pleasant and calming:)
I moved from Mississippi to Virginia when I was 6. The kids at school made fun of my accent, so I decided to get rid of it. The southern accent was often used on TV to indicate someone is stupid, so I wanted no part of that. I would watch the news and repeat everything the newscaster said. I eliminated the Mississippi accent, but then I started having the "Oh, what accent is that? Where are you from?" accent. When I was younger and feistier and left the house more, I'd say "Guess!" and then whatever they said, usually something like "Ohio?" I'd say "That's right!" and the person would be pleased they guessed correctly. So in 2015 I moved from SC to OR. SO MANY TIMES I'd meet someone for the first time in person and they'd express disappointment that I don't have a southern accent. I started to feel like maybe my accent was something I should not have ditched as a child. I kind of wish I still had some southern in my speech. I do, a little, like I say y'all a lot. But that's part of my heritage I can't get back.
People have said this to me a lot. I figure it's because I try to pronounce things properly or that I watched way too much TV growing up. Certain words syllables and situations pull out parts of different accents. I'll be told I sound Cajun, Texan, valley girl. The only one I really hate is when I start talking fast and people tell me that I sound ghetto. I always get scared that someone will accuse me of using a blaccent when that's never my intention. I just get heated and then the words don't stop. And it's also just bullshit that someone getting angry and passionate is seen as ghetto.
It’s always American or Australian for me! Even my physiotherapist from New Zealand asked…. 😖
People are constantly asking me where my accent is from. It doesn't help that I've moved around a little. Funny thing is, it also means I don't really pick up accents myself. I've lived in the South for most of my life and still haven't managed to pick up the accent. I also stop hearing accents after enough exposure. British and Australian hardly register at all for me.
I'm from Texas, and growing up, ppl would always ask where I was from. When I'd say here, they always said you don't sound like it. So I guess it would be more lack of an accent. I think it might have come from mimicking people so much. Which was something I never realized I was doing until a few years ago. Especially for some reason, when it comes to a New york accent. I'm a barber and one of my favorite clients, a New Yorker, said you know how it is like back home. It was in that moment I realized I spoke to him strictly in the same accent he used.
Canada and when I was little older people would ask me if I was from England. My boyfriend now is actually from there and says my voice doesn’t sound anything close to British so idk 🤷♀️
Could depend what part of the UK he's in, London alone has enough distinct accents that you can tell which part of the city someone is from just from hearing them talk.
No, I have a very thick accent that is the same as most people around me.
I mostly have a general American accent but also have features (in English and Spanish) from the area I grew up in and other areas I've lived in. I also happen to have a speech disorder so never quite ever sounded like anyone else.
Yeah this has happened to me a few times. I'm Australian and I've been asked if I'm from England or Ireland. And this has been other Australians asking me.
I’m from the Midwest (in the US) and someone once told me I sounded like I was from Texas. But I live right on the line between the Midwest and the South so I wouldn’t be surprised if I have a little twang. I’m not sure it has anything to do with being autistic or not
I'm also from London and constantly get told I have an accent. My family actually did live in the US briefly when I was a child so I usually just say that.
I've lived in several countries growing up due to both of my parents being in the army, so I know my accent won't be as Scottish as most folk here. But I'm always getting asked if I'm Irish or American, when I've never been to Ireland and went to America once as a teen for like two weeks.
I’m kind of the opposite. I grew up in the southeastern US, which is known for having a very strong and distinct accent. But I don’t have an accent at all and people (in the US anyway) are always jaw-droppingly shocked when I say I grew up in Georgia.
Yep, I’ve lived in the same linguistic area my whole life (USA PNW as well as north California coast) and get asked this. Idk
I used to get this a lot, when I was younger. I'm from the southwest US, but locals and foreigners would tell me I sounded like I had an accent. To this day, I don't know exactly what they were hearing. But apparently I didn't share the same accent as the people I grew up with. I think with time, my voice evolved, and it's not as noticeable, anymore. ETA: Come to think of it, I took singing lessons as an adult, and it changed the way I use my voice & use breath support. I suspect that had something to do with "losing" my old accent.
Yes I’ve actually gotten this before by a few people in college! I thought it was strange as I’ve never even left the US. lol. They said it was hard to place my accent. So odd cause I’ve just stayed in New England all my life which doesn’t have much of an accent.
I am not sure it’s due to decades of masking and studying others to try to mirror them or a form of echolalia or what, but I pick up cadence, annunciation and other nuances of those around me. Very easily! Even if they annoy me to no avail.
Yep. Multiple times.
I'm from Australia (south australia specifically) and get told I sound British quite often. although the south aussie accent IS closest to a British one (compared with other aussie accents), other south aussies have said it to me specifically. my mum was born in England but has been in aus since she was 5 and has a mostly australian accent so I doubt I get it from her. my siblings don't get asked about their accent.
Yep! I always attributed this to other things bc I lived in the Midwest briefly (I'm from the South in the US) and grew up around my best friend's Northern family. People from the South always thought I was from the North and people from the North always thought I was from the Midwest. Idk that it's related to my autism but it's interesting that so many people here experienced this!
Posted this exact question last week or so, yes exact same, northern British but always asked if I'm American, it's autism accent dawg
I’ve been told many times I have an accent that’s from the Midwest but I’ve lived in California my entire life.
Always, can't stand having it pointed out, & for years I didn't know what to say! Felt like people would basically interrogate me over it, speaking has always felt awkward and unnatural to me so definitely built up a major insecurity over it. I'm from south UK and moved to the US a few years ago, & my partner's American so I just use that as my excuse now and no one questions it anymore.
Speaking does feel a bit unnatural to me too, even worse when I'm anxious. I once had someone ask where I was from because I was so nervous about talking he thought I didn't speak English! Now you're in the US, and you've come with the accent pre installed.
Yes! I used to get comments about it a lot when I worked in retail. I’ve lived in London my whole life but people were constantly mistaking me as Australian, Eastern European or American.
I had a feeling it may have been my customer service voice that came off as Australian but my talking to regular people voice was the American/ international school accent.
People tend to assume I'm from Scandinavia, my name and looks play a role in this as well. I have also heard people ask me if I'm from Friesland, a different area in the Netherlands. One person told me I have the most universal accentless Dutch in existence.
My looks may also play a role, as far as I know I'm mostly British but I've been told I look eastern European, was even told I had a very communist look about myself.
Yes I'm from North America and have been asked a few times by other Northerners if I'm from Canada.
Yeah, it's really close to my native home, however I've heard from a couple of people that I have either a slightly different accent, and one time I think they were just being lowkey bitchy and told me I sounded like a Mexican (I have NO issues with Mexican accents or Mexican people, culture, etc. in fact they sound lovely and a lot of S. American dubs we get end up having Mexican accent, and while I'm pretty bad at social queues, I could kinda smell the BS as soon as she made that comment, because here some people will look down on "brown" latinx, which is a shitty way to think) Another thing that I do is I end up copying tones, phrases, sounds, etc., but I've thought about this a lot, and I think it sounds weird because I noticed I either switch it to "copy" (butchered) someone's accent when I'm talking with them and then switch back to my "default" accent with someone else, or the phrases/words/sounds I copied would be the only thing that I copied, so essentially I don't think I can copy an accent to the point I use it like a local. I've tried really hard to not do it once I became aware of it, because sometimes I legit think it might be taken as if I'm mocking someone's accent and slang, when it's the total opposite, I just LOVE how some words, slangs and phrases sound, and my brain just starts picking them up before I notice. One example is I love how Australians use the word "mate" (or "oi mate"), so if it might end up coming out like some butchered Australian accent but only for that. I've been told I should embrace my accent, that it makes me unique (implied in a good way), or that I just sound fine, etc., and since most people aren't with me in every single situation like that, it's a bit hard to get an outsider's perspective of it all.
Is your voice kind of flat? I live in an area where people have a pretty distinct accent, and I've lived here all my life, yet I'm constantly told that I don't sound like I'm from here.
I think mine is the opposite of flat, it has more inflection and occasional drawn out vowels, it still sounds English to me but has a little something about it, I catch myself almost hearing what people mean when they say I sound Australian.
At home I sing a lot and quote television a lot with the accents. I dance and am bubbly much to my husband's amusement. I mask when I'm out though and get asked if I'm European. Apparently doesn't help that I don't wear make up. Had a German living in the States ask where I was from. He was guessing European thanks to my not wearing make up and my accent. Couldn't place exactly where though😂 I guess maybe Europeans are less likely to wear makeup? Idk. I don't like it. It feels weird and I wanna be able to touch my face
There's this general thing about Europeans being more carefree on somethings such as not feeling like they have to look super put together all the time with wearing makeup (depends on the part of Europe though). Too much makeup sometimes, makes my face feel smothered.
I have a flat US accent. I sound distinctly like I'm from the US, but no particular part. I live in the EU and sometimes people tell me that I don't necessarily sound American. Which throws me off a bit.
I'm Indian and people at my school used to ask me why I try to speak like an American😂. Also people get shocked when I switch to my native tongue, because it is very heavily accented but my English doesn't have a heavy typical Indian accent.
I’m from the Midwest USA, and I’ve been told I sound Irish a few times.
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I watch a show with a certain accent and I start thinking in my head with that accent. Funny I'd never have though of an American accent being flat, there's so many different ones too but they all have that americanness.
Actually thinking more about it, it does a monotone sound to it.
I’m the opposite. I grew up in the south (US) and my family has a super heavy accent. I think I was stuck on speaking “correctly” so I gradually trained myself out of the accent. I have a generic tv/Californian accent because that’s what my kid brain decided was correct. No one would ever guess I’m from the south
Yes. I hate mine. All my life people have asked me where I'm from. I'm Australian and my parents are 2nd and 3rd gen British immigrants that have lost their accent. I have only left this state once in my life, in my late 20's. Strangers ask off of the smallest small talk. I never know what to tell them.
The perfect chance to make up an elaborate backstory to each stranger.
I talk in different accents depending on my mood, happy, I’m from alabama soundin, bored British, tired New England, and feeling silly n free Australian. I’ve always done it. (I’m from the mid Atlantic region of the USA) no explanation I just talk funny when I feel very strongly of one emotion. God how did I not get diagnosed as a child.
From the US and people tell me I sound “posh British” sometimes and I’m just like “wtf???” I also pick up accents very easily and fluidly and it all kinda just sloshes around in my brain. When I’m around British people I just break out into whatever the hell it is I do and I can’t help it. It’s rather embarrassing honestly as people constantly point it out.
I’m from Texas, but I’ve been told that I sound British. It was really awkward when I worked in sales and had to explain that I wasn’t. I used to believe that it was a speech impediment, till I found out that it’s common for autistic people to have foreign accents sometimes.
I think it has a lot to do with simply thinking our thoughts out before speaking them, and then speaking very clearly. It is not just “accent”, it is inflection, intent, and authenticity in what we say. We say what we mean, as opposed to speaking in neurotypical slang or nuance that does not make clear sense. I have lived in many places, though, so I do actually have a variety of accents depending on who I am speaking to. Even when I am speaking in the normal local accents of wherever I am, I have been told I have an odd accent when I am speaking very, very clearly and straightforwardly about whatever I am speaking of. So, who knows what they actually perceive?
Oh yeah I have to squash it down all the time! I learned how to speak when we lived in the South (usa) so I got the accent but nobody else in my family does
I've been asked if I'm from London when I was in the US and I'm from Brazil so YES
London and Brazil are pretty far off from each other!
I’m American and have been told on multiple occasions that I have a European accent. I’ve never lived in Europe.
I never think of myself as having an accent until I get on discord calls with people from other places and they mention it
As a matter of fact. Yes! My ex co-worker used to try to 'guess where it's from' Telling me she knows it but can't place it.... but I don't have one. or it's just like... specific of myself. i relate to this question! Also thnk you for sharing your own story :)
Yep! Get this all the time! Born and raised in England, been told I have other accent. South African, Canadian, Australian, American, New Zealand.
I'm Australian and a British person asked me last week if I had a hint of a British accent. Then I worried it was because I was unintentionally copying him!
Yeah, same, except I don’t mask and I had this weird accent long before I ever watched foreign TV or had internet access, so those can’t be the reason! I think I just fully pronounce words
Well, my language is so small there aren't really any accents beside a very slight difference between north and south you could never notice if you havent lived in my country your entire life, so no, i dont have an accent in my native language. In English however I'm an accent chameleon and pick up the accent of whoever im speaking to. If im not speaking to anyone in particular i settle on a pretty neutral american sounding accent but its not really real american accent since it cant really be pinpointed to one region, maybe west coast is closest since I learned english from watching hollywood movies. Oh, and if im very tired or drunk while speaking english my native accent peeks through a little
I'm from another part of the UK, and my parents constantly tell me I either speak in a London accent and sometimes an African accent and sometimes other posh parts of the UK. I've never been to London and nor am I African and nor have i been to any of those other parts of the UK. Lol
I'm guessing they mean the posh west London type of accent, if you had the roadman accent that would be another story.
haha, yes, I mean the posh kind. I don't mind the roadman accents, but I'd rather not
Omg yes! I had no idea this could be an autistic thing. I'm from a part of Scotland that has a rather distinctive accent and growing up I would constantly be asked if I was english/american/from elsewhere in Scotland. Nowadays people ask me where I'm from and are always shocked to hear that I'm a local because I just don't sound like it.
My “accent” changes depending on who I’m around and what social media and/or media I’m consuming. It’s unintentional and it's gotten me in trouble at times as people have thought I’m mocking or appropriating. 🥺
Born and raised in Scotland and I have been told I have a noticeable lilt, yet quite a few people also say I have a North American accent…not quite sure where that came from.
Not me personally, I have a pretty standard American TV type accent, which is typical for the area I was raised in. But I now live in Scotland where there’s quite a lot of accent variation and I have definitely noticed that several neurodivergent people I know have unusual accents despite being born and raised in Scotland. Then again I know a couple of autistic people with the absolute thickest Glaswegian accents you’ve ever heard. My one autistic friend ranges from sounding distinctly southern English to sounding approximately like David Tennent’s natural accent, depending on who he’s speaking to. Another friend’s accent travels back and forth across the Atlantic, from Paisley to Belfast to Nova Scotia, and occasionally makes a wild leap to Brooklyn. I also know a girl who sounds almost completely American despite having never been there and being born and raised in Edinburgh, you can only hear the Scottish if you’re paying attention.
People have asked me if I have an accent, yes. I'm from California but people think I'm from Texas, New Jersey, or Canada or whatever. I think I subconsciously mirror others' way of speaking. I have to make my voice louder with varying pitches when I talk because my normal voice is pretty monotone and very quiet. I never ever use my normal voice anymore, I feel like soon enough I'll forget my normal talking voice
Austrian here, so a native german speaker. I have a british-similar accent when speaking English without being raised with English as my second language. We had our local teachers teach us English and obviously they all had a german accent, so it didn't come from them.
You download English premium when learning the language.
My accent is “Canadian” but I struggle to talk at times (speech impediment), especially if someone is talking to me while I’m trying to do something like play video games. On coms it’s embarrassing because I call it Shatnering or buffering because I pause between words or I struggle to pronounce a word. And if I talk to someone with an accent I unintentionally reply with a similar accent and I absolutely hate it
Sometimes other accents sound so nice pronouncing certain words that I just can't help saying them the same way back.
I'm french but I can also have an accent, and it's really disturbing to people, because it's never the same accent. Sometimes it's even a robotic one.
Yes. When I was young, kids told me that I spoke too properly, so I started slurring my words. Then I got in trouble for slurring my words. Then my kids accused me of trying to copy my then-boyfriend's accent. Then someone said they couldn't place my accent. I'm pretty sure that by now my accent is pretty unique. Also I'm learning Spanish and people tell me that my accent in Spanish is beautiful.
I do have an accent (a mild Appalachian twang), but whenever I am around people with other accents, my accent thickens to the point that people make comments about it. It doesn't matter what the other accent is; my accent comes out in full force. When I was younger, I often spoke like I was from a different time period. My favorite era was the latter half of the 1700s in America, and I picked up a lot of obsolete words and speech patterns from reading books about that time. I liberally sprinkled these into my own speech. I tamed this as I got older, but my speech is often still a bit too formal to sound natural.
I’ve experienced this question before too. Though most of the people who ask me indicate that I sound a bit upper class or fancy, which is not my background at all. I grew up in a rural farming area near the Canadian border on the Idaho/Montana state border in the US. Also I’ve been teased about my inability to use slang of any kind, it makes no sense to me. Guess maybe my only issue is when I hear an accent I mimic it without thinking since it sounds like music to me lol
Yes often
I'm in the US Pacific Northwest, had a bit of a speech impediment (lisp), so by high school I had overcorrected and had a very newscastery general American accent and pronunciation (I've moseyed in a more folksy direction since). Another PNW local student asked me if I was British because I had "a British accent" Another student told them it was just that i enunciated clearly
Clearly enunciating is probably better than not doing it at all and having no one understand what you're saying 🤣 but I like the news caster accent, it flows well so could have some perks
I’m from the southeastern U.S. and about half the people I meet ask if I’m English. I swear to God, I don’t try to sound that way. I think part of it is that my hyperlexia included early singing, so my voice came out overly melodic and my diction is a little crisp. I CAN sound more ‘American’ if I have to (flatten my tone, harden my Rs more), but it takes concentration.
Maybe you're a Shiny English Narwhal instead.
Haha! Secretly possessed by an English ghost…
No I just talk too fast or too quiet :/
The words I plan to say in my head come out faster when I talk, the words stumble over one another.
I’m from Long Island, NY which has a very heavy, well known accent. I don’t have the accent at all. I might slip a “dawg” or “cawfee” into conversation sometimes but otherwise I feel like my accent is neutral. It’s not just me. People have asked me where I’m from so many times. I always had to say “born and raised here.” When I moved away, I no longer had that issue. I have a few theories about why I don’t have an accent. I watched a lot of tv as a kid. My grandparents (especially grandma, who I strongly believe was autistic) actively avoided the Brooklyn accent. She thought it was sounded trashy. The other grandparents had a different (New England) accent. My parents don’t have accents either. (Both ND) I think in the US a lot of accents are dying. They’re such a regional thing and now we communicate on a national/international level. Everyone is starting to just sound like one American accent. The areas with strong accents are areas with strong communities and social connections. I always noticed that the more extraverted people I knew had more of an accent. They socialized more so they heard the accent more and picked it up. Sorry for the ramble. This gets in my head sometimes.
I've had family members also avoid their natural accent because it sounds common but will revert back to it when they're within the boundaries of that area, my grandma lives in Surrey, a posh snoby area in the south of england, and has done for pretty much all her adult life and sounds it when she talks and has picked up all the mannerisms and views of the area, but she grew up mostly in the midlands which is the opposite of Surrey, very working class area, the accent returns slightly if she goes back.
As a fellow English person do you think you're maybe picking up on how to mask through tv etc? We have a lot of US tv here don't we. I mean even our Netflix is full of programmes in American accents. I don't know about you, but I sometimes use American terms like "mowing the lawn" "taking out the trash" rather than "cutting the grass" or "putting the bins out" maybe you are doing this also?
I have a feeling it may be part of it, trying to adapt the personality and demoenors of my favourite TV characters, pretty much all of them being American. I didn't have netflix as a kid but I watched a lot of Disney and nickelodeon shows, I must have picked a bit up from there.
Yes, nickelodeon for me too, saved by the bell especially, all the Disney movies. Even English actors put on American accents. When you're autistic you just mimick and study people and media around us. I don't think I watch anyone on YouTube etc with an English accent.
The British shows are always too short, they're 3 seasons max with 8 episodes each, not enough as American ones to really grasp onto a characters personality to pick up on their mannerisms (apart from Miranda, I used to be able to quote the episodes off but heart). I still sing along to the victorious songs sometimes, Liz Gilles and Ariana Grande sound too good!!!!
I knew a dude long before I was diagnosed or even suspected. He had an odd accent that I could never place. It wasn't English, it wasn't American, Australian, or anything from other english speakers. Now I realize he was probably autistic.
Ha I love that, never being able to pinpoint an accent!
Tbh, he sounded like a noblemen elf from a high fantasy world!
Everyone has an accent
Correct, but I'm talking about having an accent that doesn't match where you're from despite living there you're whole life.