The game of clue office edition - all neurotypes welcome!

Everyone remembers the game of Clue, right? Well, this is Clue, the office edition. In this blog, I am going to do my best to figure out what nonverbal clues I can decipher from my time at the office. This will be nothing short of amazing because, while I am not on the autism spectrum, I have been told that I do not read body language well for a neurotypical. In fact, I have been told I suck at it. Case in point: I once walked out of a meeting only to hear, “OMG, I can’t believe how mad he is we missed the deadline.” In my opinion, I clearly stated why we missed the deadline (circumstances outside of our control) and therefore I saw no reason for anyone to be angry. A co-worker said “you must be kidding, surely you saw him slam the book down.” In my defense, I assumed he dropped it. So, now you have just a little insight as to just how clueless I can be. Shall we begin?

The raised eyebrows - now, hear me out. The raised eyebrows can mean a few different things. I suppose it can mean, what do you mean, the report is not ready? It can also mean, are you really going to eat that whole thing? In my world, it usually meant what time zone are you working in?

Deep sighs - Deep sighs can also have multiple meanings. They can mean the sigher (see how I did that - sometimes I just make the words up) feels remorse for being difficult to work with. The sigh can mean, well crap, the dog has fleas again. Or, well crap, the kids have head lice again. In my case, it usually meant here we go again. The sigher will need to explain precisely how they are feeling to me as I certainly have no clue.

Intense glare - Gotta be honest. I usually got this one. The meaning was never great. But for the sake of playing along, lets pretend it could mean something else. Potentially, it could mean it is time for the person doing the glaring to get that cataract fixed. Yep, For sure. Let’s just go with that.

I bring all of this up because, as I think about my grandchild on the autism spectrum, I wonder how she will handle the stress of never reading social cues correctly. Not only does it create awkward situations, but it takes a toll on self-confidence when you know people are judging your failure to read the room.

So, as we wrap up this game of Clue - office edition, feel free to comment on any nonverbal clues that are being thrown around the workplace and we can try to figure them out together. Better yet, let’s just quit assuming people know how to interpret these clues and have genuine conversations. Communication can be difficult for autistic individuals and when we clearly communicate and eliminate the need to read body language, we level the playing field for those on the autism spectrum.

Everyone deserves a seat at the table without having to guess what that grunt just meant. Until next time!