If you are visiting this website, you have probably tried to telephone an autistic person against their wishes. This causes them harm and injury. An alternative means of communication is required.

If you have visited this website from an e-mail address given to you, you must use this e-mail address to communicate with the autistic individual, for reasons discussed below.

Autistic individuals find using phones challenging or impossible for various reasons. Here are some common factors to consider:

Social Complexity. Many autistic people struggle with social interactions, including phone conversations. Initiating discussions with unfamiliar individuals can cause anxiety and discomfort, as well as receiving calls.

Attention Overload. Surprisingly, speaking over the phone can be overwhelming, even without the discomfort of eye contact. The focus directed at them feels like a spotlight, leaving them feeling vulnerable and exhausted.

Unpredictability. A ringing phone feels like an invasion, and not knowing who is calling or what they want can be unbearable. Waiting for someone to answer feels nerve-wracking. It feels like a complete stranger has teleported into their bedroom, and is jumping up and down on their bed demanding to be spoken to immediately. And this often comes while the autistic individual is trying to unwind and unpack from the difficulty of the day, also known as an autistic shutdown period.

Social exhaustion. Dealing with people drains the energy from autistic people. Just a few minutes of social interaction with a stranger can require days or weeks for some individuals to "recharge". This applies equally on the phone as well as face-to-face.

Lost social cues. Autistic individuals struggle with reading social cues, "reading between the lines" as well as following facial expressions and maintaining eye contact. When forced to talk on the telephone, autistic individuals lose much of the available "bandwidth" of the conversation, leaving only a distant muffled voice to decode. This makes it even more difficult to read what the other person is really thinking or asking.

Masking. Autistic individuals frequently engage in a practice called "masking". This is where they expend all their available energy to "act normal" and to avoid becoming a target. This is a behaviour often learned during school to avoid bullying. When forced to make or receive phone calls, an autistic individual often finds themselves repeating stock phrases or dismissing questions. This is done to appear as normal as possible, and to end the conversation as quickly as possible to reduce pain. This leads to autistic individuals "self-sabotaging" themselves on phone calls, for example by denying help from doctors, support workers etc.

Locking up. Autistic individuals, when placed on the spot, often feel unable to continue a conversation and suddenly become non-verbal. This is known as "locking up", analogous to a person's jaw locking up when experiencing the symptoms of lockjaw from a tetanus infection. This frequently happens when the conversation departs from the expected pattern, and new variables are suddenly introduced by the caller.

Processing time. Autistic individuals tend to process the spoken word more slowly than neurotypical individuals, as they have to do extra work to decode the embedded social cues as well as filtering out irrelevant stimuli. When forced to speak on a telephone or face-to-face, an autistic individual is denied the extra thinking time they need, as awkward pauses in conversations are often filled by the other party "butting in" and asking why they have gone silent. When speaking on a telephone, any non-verbal cues that the autistic individual is thinking are lost to the caller.

Simultaneous presentation. Many autistic individuals process information better when it is presented simultaneously as both written text and spoken word. For example, autistic individuals frequently watch films with subtitles, to better aid understanding of what is being said. When forced to use a telephone, there is no possibility of simultaneous presentation.

Because of the factors discussed above, autistic individuals usually require communication in a non-real-time written form. An autistic individual can then take as long as they need to process what has been said, and to formulate a reply that represents their honest thoughts without masking. The autistic individual can also use text-to-speech software to simultaneously present the written word, to better digest what was written by the other party. In general, e-mail and SMS text are suitable means of communication for an autistic individual. However it is important to note that autistic individuals do differ, and some cannot deal with communication even via these means.

Additionally, many countries have strong laws protecting autistic individuals. For example, the United Kingdom has the Equality Act 2010, which requires that parties must make "reasonable adjustments" to accommodate the needs of an autistic individual. A reasonable adjustment could entail, for example, conducting all communication via e-mail. Failure to make these adjustments is punishable by harsh civil and criminal penalties.

Unfortunately, because autistic individuals can be significantly disabled and also struggle with communication, they are often unable to adequately fight cases of discrimination where a reasonable adjustment was not made, as they often feel unable to call the police on the telephone. Luckily, there are many charities around the world acting on the behalf of autistic individuals, fighting for their right to communicate without agony and misunderstanding. These charities can help autistic individuals contact the police when discrimination occurs by parties not making reasonable adjustments.