Communication

I love words.  I love the way they flow together to paint a picture.  They can motivate, elicit emotion, create laughter, and ultimately, facilitate healing. I LOVE words.

Communication is so much more than words though, and because of that, it’s complicated.  Conversations are loaded with clichés, innuendo, phrases, words with multiple meanings, sarcasm.  There’s a lot more, but just those alone can make a head hurt.

I have what’s called a dry sense of humor.  I’m a comedian, so I sling jokes and silliness to a room full of people just about every weekend.  I never know going in if what I’m going to say will resonate or not.  Will a particular crowd come along with me on a ride full of innuendo, clichés, phrases, words with multiple meanings, and sarcasm…and more sarcasm? I never know.

What I do know is that for years I was making a living at making people laugh, and at home I had an autistic son that didn’t understand humor.  So, I set out to teach him the ins and outs of funny.  Along the way, he schooled me on the ins and outs of effectively communicating with someone that has Autism.

I became clear in my message, began to say exactly what I meant, and started using descriptors when talking to him.  Then, finally, one day he said, “I wonder where my real mommy is?”  Ah…sweet sarcasm.  I’ve never been prouder.

What did you say?

Listen to the Podcast  – JHA011: Communication