Autistic communication: explicit vs implicit requests
Person A wants Person B to turn the volume on the radio down, so they ask, "Can you turn the radio down?" Person B thinks this is a literal question, like "Can you turn in a circle," so they reply, "Yes," because yes, they are capable of turning the radio down. Person A is frustrated because they expected Person B to turn it down right in that moment, but Person B didn't realize this was a request
If you easily pick up the subtext and implicit requests when other people speak, you may have been in this situation before as Person A, and maybe you thought Person B was being passive-aggressive, or intentionally refusing to do what you'd asked. Even if you know that's not what they mean, it can still be confusing to figure out how to respond
Instead, acknowledge their reply and re-iterate your question as a polite but explicit request, like "Okay, please turn it down when you have a moment," or "Alright, please turn down the radio"
This avoids the entire potential interaction of making Person B feel awkward or like they've done something wrong, when they've just interpreted your request in a way that's natural to them
Autistic communication isn't an error, and often just needs understanding and adjustment from another person to communicate clearly. Someone may read social cues differently because of other reasons too, like intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, and that's perfectly fine too!
Over time Person B may pick up that when people ask out of the blue questions like that, it's usually a request, but this isn't something you can just demand or force, and it is okay if a person never picks up on implicit requests. Life is all about mutual accommodation, and hopefully this is helpful to anyone wondering how to respond to requests being read as literal questions
