Caption: When you ask an Autistic person to do something, make sure to attach a timeframe like “today,” “or at 3 PM,” (avoiding demanding words like “now”) and a definite personalization of who needs to do the thing that is being suggested. If one or both of these things is missing from your request, we will not see them as a request, but a passive statement, and it will not get done.
Image: 2 panels with an alien speaking to a person. One panel is labeled “incorrect” and the other “correct”.
Incorrect: The alien’s statement is written in a bubble shaped like an arrow. It points from the alien’s mouth to the person’s ear, stating, “The trash needs to be taken out.” There is another empty arrow pointing out of the person’s other ear.
Correct: The alien’s statement is written in a similar arrow, stating, “Please take the trash out in a minute.” The person responds, “Sure.” There is no other arrow pointing out of the person’s other ear.
The flip side is when we accidentally train ourselves to be a people pleaser by treating every ‘update’ like in panel 1 as a direct request and end up doing ridiculous things because we think it’s expected of us.