I’m autistic.

Most people are surprised by this. This is because I’m generally good at communication, and I generally know when to display empathy when called upon it.

These skills weren’t easy to acquire. They took a lot of effort. But the net effect is that I’ve largely built a career on communications, being able to relate to technical and non-technical people alike.

But there’s certain things I’m not good at.

For example, stuff pertaining to social status. Last night, I said that I wanted to use certain software but was leery about the price of data.

The dev replied back, saying I was talking down his project to 16,000 people, and felt that I was somehow angry or upset about something I don’t have a clue about.

And stuff like this happens quite often. I say something I think is innocuous. I unexpectedly piss someone off. People assign to me motivations where there is none.

So I know this is hard to believe but there’s no subtext with me. There’s no “read between the lines”. I’m generally a literal person who tends to mean things literally—unless specified otherwise.

I have no axe to grind. I try not to get involved in personal Fedi drama. I’m not trying to make life difficult for anyone because life can be difficult as it is.

Cheers 🍻