Do people not TALK to each other when they go out anymore??

Bumpmakesfour

cazpumpkin wrote: »

my OH stares at his phone/internet screen all evening, if it wasnt his phone it would be the tv or the laptop, he is totally addicted and has aspergers and finds human communications hard anyway, what i mistook for shyness turned out to be a lot deeper, so i wouldnt go out for the evening unless he left his gadgets at home and force him to make small talk , his idea of small talk is the history of british pressed glass 1843 - 1880 (specifically), bird watching or airbus, deep joy. at home i turn the tv off and wont serve dinner until the tv is off , but its a struggle for him and the children to endure dinner without the tv on and without my OH making random noises/tics, at the moment he parrots tv adverts in the past he has made kronk kronk raven noises , you have to laugh or you would cry, i do love him bless him but the gadgets drive him further into his aspie world

My DS has aspergers too.His conversation is dinosaurs or fossils and his favourite noise is a lovely high pitched pteradactyl one We also use evenings out to try to improve his social skills although often he actually spends much of the meal under the table if it's a new place so we tend to go to "tried and trusted" places that he's ok with(till they redecorate then he refuses to even go in) Current parroting/echolalia phrase is.."moonpig.comMOONPIG.COMmooooooonpig.com over n over -not at ALL annoying,honest :rotfl:

BugglyB

Bumpmakesfour wrote: »

How about the friends who you go out with,they take a pic on their phone and before you even get a chance to get to them to have a look they're uploading it on FB.Or when you move on to the next place/pub/restaurant they're walking along updating their location :rotfl:

I used to have a friend who did that and I had to stop being friends with her. It drove me mad. She would take pictures of me in the pub and upload them onto facebook with a silly caption while I sat waiting for her to finish. She would then tell me what everyone commented as they were commenting it.

To me the sign of a good friendship/relationship is respect - which to me means putting away your phone while you're in someones company. Obviously if you're waiting for important news its different.

Also people who have long phone calls while you're with them... if I ever do answer my phone in someone elses company its only to say 'can I ring you back later I'm busy' not starting on what did you have for tea last night etc.

jellyhead

I suppose we'd be letting eldest (who is not diagnosed but probably has mild aspergers along with his dyspraxia) use a DS if we weren't playing memory games or top trumps. A meal out where after a period of good behaviour they are allowed the Ds is better than not going out ever, or having every outing turned into a nightmare because he couldn't cope with the wait after ordering.

I sometimes feel as if others diners are glaring at us and wishing we would give our kids a DS to keep them quiet instead of playing "I went to market and I bought ... "

Peater

I was in Debenhams the other day and saw a father trying on coats with his teenaged son (assumed). The lad had headphones in.....

I thought that was appauling and i'm only 27!!!

And it's not just the kiddies either, i was at my parents the other day watching the box with the rest of the family. My Father's mobile rang, he answered and started to have a conversation. He gestured at me to turn the television volume down, i told him where he could put the remote.... He got the 'hint' and went into the next room.

Honestly!? This Country!? I ask you!?