An autistic person’s seemingly inoffensive text message has caused the recipient to stop replying altogether, it has been reported.

Des Ackerman, 19, was chatting to new friend Alma Montague, 20, about improv when they sent a message that spelled the end of the conversation, and perhaps of the relationship – possibly even the end of the world.

Ackerman’s text read: “So cool that you do improv too! I’ve been meaning to sign up to a Level 2 class. What was yours like?”

It has been three months without a response, leading Ackerman to suspect that they have said something gravely offensive in a code so impenetrable that even Ackerman can no longer decipher it.

“I keep looking back at the message to try and figure out what I did wrong. Were we not at the ‘asking low-stakes questions’ stage? Did she bring up improv and then suddenly no longer want to talk about it? Should I have intuited that based off her tone of voice and body language via the medium of text?”

Montague said: “Des came on too strong and gave me the ick. I like my new friends to show a specific amount of enthusiasm, but no more than that.”

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