Why I Wish There Were Subtitles in Real Life
My brain and my ears do not get along.
I’m not a visual thinker. I’ve always thought in words, not pictures. Maybe it’s because I had hyperlexia as a child. Maybe it’s because I have always been better on the page than in person. Whatever the reason, I have always thought in words.
Because of this, whenever I hear words being said out loud, or when I say them out loud, in my mind’s eye I sort of see the words scroll by. When someone uses a word I don’t know how to spell, I get so uncomfortable I start squirming. I don’t like not being able to “see” the word.
I think I may have some kind of sensory processing disorder. It could just be a side effect of my autism. Either way, sometimes it takes a couple of seconds for me to process what someone has just said. This is why I always put subtitles on when I’m streaming videos.
There have been some people in my life who take annoyance with my requesting subtitles. However, that irritation is nothing compared to my constantly asking, “wait, what did they say?” when I miss something. So they have learned to tolerate the captions.
The bottom line? Don’t be an asshole when someone asks you to put on captions. You never know what’s going on in their head.
