Dealing with a monotone voice

[90redbaloons]

I have ADHD and have never been able to mask, I tend to have a monotone voice which I have tried to change because I have been mocked about it and especially over the phone I'm often told."You don't look how you sound". I'm also asked all the time where I'm from, even though I'm clearly a local. It has reached a stage where I have even hate speaking to anyone because I feel I am being judged.

However a few months back I plucked up the courage to go to see a speech therapist and she could see nothing wrong with my voice, she thought it was more trauma based and due to bullying, my voice sounds tight all the time and I habe found it difficult to just be myself. In a way she made me feel a little bit more reassured, but it's still an ongoing thing.

Can anyone else relate or have you experienced something similar?

I am autistic and my voice has two modes - monotone and what I would call 'theatrical' - where I am putting expression in but it sounds like a particularly hammy actor; i.e. getting it wrong or wildly exaggerated.

I don't really have an answer, for me, it's one of those things that if I try to do anything about it, it just makes it worse. I think I just have to accept that I will never sound like an NT person and try not to think about it too much.

If anyone does have a constructive solution I would be very interested to hear it!

I’ve always been told that I don’t sound like where I’m from. I get it every time within the first 5 minutes of meeting someone. People are always convinced I’m from somewhere else, but never the same place! Multiple countries, multiple continents.

Many people have been rude or distrustful because of it and others have treated me like a “stupid foreigner”. I’ve gravitated more towards ESL people in life because they either don’t pick up on it or know how irritating the comments are.

I’ve seriously considered seeing someone so I can learn an RP accent just so I will have a recognisable accent and people can stop mentioning it.

Sorry I'm late coming back to this thread. Had covid and was totally zapped

@BoardLikeAMirror I'm exactly the same, can't seem to strike a balance in how I sound.

@wafflesandeggs I'm EXACTLY the same. If I had a dollar for everytime someone asked me where I'm from I'd be pretty rich. I have also found it easier to speak with people who have English as a second language and have faced far less judgment