Apparently nobody likes the way their voice sounds. But there’s another reason I always cringe on hearing my voice and like to claim I have a voice for print. My accent is terribly posh. So much so that’s often remarked upon by others. And sadly, I don’t have the background to justify it so I come across to others as having an affectation and being pretentious.

I’d always put this down to moving around a lot as a child. My received pronunciation is merely a consequence of an amalgamation of various regional accents. But I stayed put from the ages of 7-18 in the Fens. I’ve come across others (presumably neurotypical) who moved to a new area much later than 7 and completely lost their previous accents.

So why do I talk the way I do?

Tony Attwood (of The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome fame) says that it is incredibly common for autistic children to not have the accent of their classmates, a finding backed up by many parents. I’ve read of Australian children talking with US accents despite never living there or knowing any Americans personally – they’ve picked it up from the media they’re consuming.