# 20 - I’m Not Arguing, I’m Clarifying: When Needing Details Gets Misread
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# 20 - I’m Not Arguing, I’m Clarifying: When Needing Details Gets Misread
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Have you ever asked for clarification - only to be hit with, “Why are you arguing with me?”
If you’re autistic, you may know this moment intimately: you’re not trying to fight, you’re trying to understand. You’re trying to follow the rules, do it right, and make sense of vague language that feels destabilizing to your nervous system. But instead of being met with clarity, you’re met with defensiveness, accusation, and shame.
In this episode of Quietly Autistic at Last, we unpack the psychology behind why autistic requests for details so often get misread as confrontation. We’ll explore autistic precision vs. neurotypical emotional subtext, the double empathy problem, tone perception, nervous system dysregulation, and why being repeatedly misinterpreted can create deep communication trauma - and even lead to shutdown, fawning, and masking.
Most importantly, you’ll leave with language you can use to advocate for yourself without shrinking, and the reminder you may need most:
Needing details isn’t arguing. It’s safety. It’s integrity. It’s communication.