I did not know it was more common in neurodiverse people. I thought everyone did this to some degree, like altering body language to the person you are talking to. To be fair though, the majority of people i spend time with are neurodiverse, so my normality meter might be far off.

And this makes learning a foreign language more easy.

One of the many realizations that lead me to seek an autism assessment. The strongest for me is picking up a Georgian (state in the US) accent when talking to friends from the area. I'm from close to the Canadian border in a mountain state so it's a very different accent. I've also done it with people from different Asian countries so I have to be very careful to consciously kick it out of my speech so I don't come across as being some jerk. I worked for a Korean immigrant couple for 2 1/2 years and it took me 6 months for my brain to quit trying to "fit in" with their speech patterns.

I can relate to this. I think I even copy their body language and demeanour

This happens to me too. Went to a Ren fest one year every day it was open.My folks said I was starting to talk with a fake accent...I didn't even realize it.

SAME

Me too I’m not trying to be offensive though

Army brat. I've always done this in order to fit in.

I do the same. I went to London for three weeks. It took months after I got back to drop the accent.

Copy that ;) Got the same... It got really weird once upon a time when taking to friends who all understood English but didn't all speak it. I have my own dialect from the town I was born, so that's the voice in my head, then I was talking Dutch to one friend, English to the other and German to the next, because I can't answer or address in any other language then the language I hear. I'm Dutch of origin and when I was younger, I was working as a cashier. Was talking to an English speaking cliënt and all of a sudden another customer said that my Dutch is so perfect given the fact that I'm an American... it made me laugh, the look on her face when I told her I was actually Dutch living one town over ;)

This is really hard with my job which involves being on the phone a lot. Subconsciously start mimicking their accents etc and have to to try really hard not to! It comes across as really patronising or that you’re taking the p**s. If I watch a tv show or something where they have a parocular accent, I’ll find myself mimicking it or talking in that accent to myself whether out loud or in my head. Kind of like how a song gets stuck in your head

I've always been this way. Moved to the South, picked up an accent. Lived in London, picked up the accent. Moved to Ireland, same thing. Don't even realize I'm doing it until someone points it out

Omg happens to me too except it happens in my thoughts. I'll read The Hobbit and start thinking in the style of the Hobbit for the next hour or until I read another book

I have to fight to not do this.

I think I do this one. I say y’all because I have a freind from Texas and bro because my sister is weird… is that what op meant?

I do it all the time, I'm a woman with aspergers

I tend to slip into a British accent very easily, although I struggle more with other accents. Luckily, the British people at my camp were cool with it.

I sometimes do this too... Like after watching a British show for 2 hours I may pick up an accent for a short time.

It may be that "everyone" does this to some degree. But I think what OP and others are saying is its more intense or frequent for them. Neurotypical folks might find themselves adapting at times, but OP is saying it's *every* time. Doing this does not make you ND. But ND folks might do it automatically to a degree that is above average paramaters.

YES I thought that was normal as well??

yes

I am Southern but my accent gets thicker when I hear authentic strong southern accents (none of that fake Hollywood junk). I also tend to pick up English, Irish and Scottish accents. My MIL does the same thing. By the time her trip to Ireland was over everyone thought she was a native!

This is a normal thing in neurotypical people, too! It's called "accommodation", and it's something people do subconsciously to fit in with the people they're talking to.

For speech it's called echolalia and for gestures it's called echopraxia.

It's called 'echolalia' for speech and 'echopraxia' for movement. Just in case you wanted to know.

This. And I'm a neurodivergent woman.

Nancy Lynch

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I do that with movies. Walk in sounding American and come out sounding Australian or Italian, etc.

That's because when you're neurodiverse, you mimic behaviours of those around you.

I was with a German family once. I got their accent and could not talk as I was worried they thought I was being very rude.

I do the same thing! I was in my 30's when I figured it out but get this, since I got long covid it's reallllly baaaaad.

i've done that with accents. I went on holiday to Florida for two weeks as a kid and a local couple were convinced that I was from somewhere in America but they couldn't quite place the accent. When I told them I was from the UK, they didnt believe me.

Ha. hahaha... omg... this is ... holy c**p this explains SO MUCH. I'm a Voice Actor btw...

I notice myself doing this constantly.

echolalia

Holy c**p I've done this my entire life but I didn't realise it was because of my ADHD

This actually arises to varying degrees as a result of the Chameleon Effect in order to foster empathy with other people, so it is actually incredibly normal :) - we subconsciously mimic the accents, tones of voice, gestures etc of other people, which is why if someone moves to another country, studies abroad or talks to a friend with a totally different accent, their accent will adjust over time as well. The effect is also significantly enhanced if you like the person or place, and reduced if you dislike the person or miss your home for example :)

I guess this isn't quite the same but we have a woman in the office that says "you know what I mean?" After every statement she makes. Drives me nuts! Now, almost every single person in the office says it after every single thing they are trying to tell you.

I do this! My autism diagnosis appointment is happening pretty soon :)

I am not sure if I do this, I don't think I do but I have noticed people do this when they are talking to me.

I dumb down my language