Winging It!

Most people enjoy going to a party or event.  Time to get dressed up, explore new places and meet new people! Ever been to a party and seen the person sat in the corner avoiding everyone or sat playing with the dog?   That's me. I never know what to say to people.  Reciprocal conversations are not really something I can instigate or maintain.  The patter usually goes - "Hi! How are you?" my response - "OK thanks" It does not occur to me to ask them how they are feeling or what has been happening in their lives.  Then comes the awkward silence   From my experience this makes other people uncomfortable when around me.  It can make me appear as cold, uncaring and unapproachable.  This got me thinking.  Can I change this?  Can I learn the art of conversation? I have scoured the internet and come up with the following top tips - * Find common ground - animals, films, hobbies, sports * Ask a few questions related to easy topics such as work or school * Ask open ended

Yes, the title says it all.  Alex who!  The answer, Alexithymia. Alexithymia is a trait characterised by the decreased ability or complete inability, to recognise and describe feelings and emotions.   Alexithymia is not restricted to your own feelings, but also can include recognising and understanding the feelings of others. Individuals with Alexithymia can be described as lacking empathy, not understanding of others and cold.  Alexithymia is very often diagnosed along with autism.  However, it should be noted that Autism does not cause lack of empathy, it is Alexithymia. Why am I writing about this today? Today I took my daughter (who is on the spectrum) to an appointment.  We were there to do some work on the 'Incredible 5 Point Scale'.  For those who don't know this work is based on a way of making feelings visual and relatable to an individual.   " The Incredible 5-Point Scale allows abstract concepts and feelings to be made visual, concrete, static, and personal