• Welcome to Autism Forums, a friendly forum to discuss Aspergers Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and related conditions.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Private Member only forums for more serious discussions that you may wish to not have guests or search engines access to.
    • Your very own blog. Write about anything you like on your own individual blog.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon! Please also check us out @ https://www.twitter.com/aspiescentral

Hail to the cellular phone

Gritches

The Happy Dog
V.I.P Member
First off, I hate cell phones, for the stereotypical reasons someone might hate cell phones: they rule people's lives.

But I say, a cell phone properly wielded can be an Aspie's best friend.

Sometimes, we can catch trouble if we're just standing around. People get creeped out, or they think you're staring at them, or they think you're drunk/high, the list goes on;

Waiting rooms are the worst, right? Bothering to show up early for an appointment and then having to awkwardly wait with strangers in a lobby with nothing but magazines that dozens if not hundreds of people who don't wash their hands after they wipe their ass have handled;

But even if you just stare at your feet the whole time you might catch some trouble. And in all honestly, I can't speak for everyone but I know I probably look like a braindead zombie when I want to just stare at one spot because I don't need my eyes to get lost in my own mind and zone out until I hear my name called;

It's because NTs think you're looking at something for a purpose. They see "zombie" and they get scurred. But if you're a braindead zombie staring into a phone, tapping it every couple of seconds, then *poof* you look "normal". You look just like everyone else; braindead zombies starting into their phones. It's like a social safety bubble - nobody will bother you, and nobody will look twice.

And that's exactly what a cell phone is to me; a shield against the outside world. I don't want to talk to you, I just want to zone out on this cell phone screen for a while. Check my settings for no reason. Play Boom Beach or Clash of Clans.

If you're familiar with the Assassin's Creed franchise, it reminds me of "blending"; whipping out my phone is just as good of social cover as hiding in between four whores. It's socially acceptable to use your phone while walking as long as you keep looking up to see where you're going.

My therapist even taught me a trick, unintentionally: if you're in a conversation and you need to back up a claim you make, just pull out your phone, tap it a bunch, and say something like "yup, just googled it, that is certainly the case". Fake googling is like adding citation to your words - it gives you some false credibility.

TL;DR - Cell phones are useful for social masking and avoiding situations like in the "apparently I can't stand on the street" thread, which both the OP and many others including myself commented with similar issues.

What I want from ya'll is: can you pile on to this? Do you have any other tricks involving a cell phone, social masking, or both, the main point being to avoid unwanted attention for being "weird" or "different"?

I hope that's closed-ended and clear enough. Thank you in advance.
 
If I'm sitting down, say in a waiting area, I lean back in my chair and close my eyes. You can't be accused of staring at anybody if your eyes are closed.
 
Before cell phones, I used books as shields or a journal to write in when I was in restaurants or standing around in line so that people wouldn't talk to me. When I worked my last job I had a cell, and was happy when I retired to give it up. I hated being at the mercy of people who wanted information from me at work, anytime they decided to call for some pretty mundane things.

My husband used to carry around a camera as a blocking device, after people noticed him staring in windows and touching cars, I talked him into carrying a music man then eventually a small cd player with ear buds over the years. He had a cellphone for his job, but when he retired he was happy not to use it after that. Now he brings a tablet and ear buds with him everywhere.

Maybe I live in a different society from the one you do. People spend lots of time outside walking around, the only time they are considered weird is when they start screaming or making animal noises (happened recently) and then people ignore them.

No one calls the police on anyone unless they actively damage property like a fellow did a few days back at the family services office. He broke all their windows with a metal rod because his wife left him and went to a woman's shelter. The police calmed him down and brought him home. Noticed they replaced their window glass today with plexiglass.
 
Last edited:
Looking engrossed in your phone is a good way to be inconspicuous and left alone. Especially if you're also wearing earbuds.
 
I don't use a mobile phone much, but wear big, obvious headphones and listen to music, to try to shut out my surroundings. Unfortunately, it still doesn't stop people from trying to talk to me, or worse poking me. I don't really care much if strangers in a waiting room think that I'm weird because I'm not doing anything wrong, but it does bother me when they try to talk to me for no good reason when I just want to be left alone.
 
I've had several mobile phones since about 2001.

It's only in the last 10 years though that I've been able to use them without annoyingly cumbersome adaptors for my hearing aid though.

And I've been with most of the major UK Networks, some are better than others, Virgin aren't bad, they're one of the better ones I've had.
 
I fake using my phone to avoid uncomfortable situations. Elevators, waiting rooms and public transport are my go to places for grabbing my phone. I don’t need to fake google to back up my claims though, I compulsively google when people dispute my claims anyway :D
 
I find the phone a great thing to have. I like it if I get separated from Mom at the store or like to use it when on long drives and still want to go online.
 
I don't feel uncomfortable if people try to talk to me, rather I feel uncomfortable if I'm ignored. If ignored I think I must be doing something weird, then I have to try and figure out what I'm doing wrong.

I will always turn to reading material to disappear into a crowd, a crowd being two people in addition to myself.
 
I'm addicted to online word games and play in a league, so every time I'm hanging around for any reason I'm on my tablet doing that.
The only downside is people see the screen and ask what I'm playing.
 

New Threads

Top Bottom