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#autism and literal speech - a speculative thread. Please share.
Taking things literally is an extremely famous #autistic trait, suggesting that irony, sarcasm, metaphor is entirely beyond us. But these things often aren& #39;t, so what& #39;s really going on? /1
Taking things literally is an extremely famous #autistic trait, suggesting that irony, sarcasm, metaphor is entirely beyond us. But these things often aren& #39;t, so what& #39;s really going on? /1
In my various communications with #autistic folk (quite a lot, considering how anti-social I am) I& #39;ve found increasing evidence that #autistic people can recognise figurative, ironic language quite well, most of the time. I think the real story is a bit more complex. /2
Straightforward irony and sarcasm can be pretty clearly signposted in speech after all - the whole & #39;nudge nudge wink wink& #39; thing. I think #autistic people can get pretty adept at spotting these signs and even use them themselves. /3
I& #39;m going to basically think out loud now all the instances where I have taken things literally, to see if a pattern exists. Please join in. /4 #autism
So one type of implication that I *always* run the risk of missing is implied instruction. Such as, & #39;ooh its got dark& #39; meaning & #39;put the light on& #39; or & #39;well, someone has to do it& #39; meaning & #39;I want you to do it& #39;. I miss this kind of thing very frequently. /5 #autism
However, I don& #39;t tend to miss implied criticism at all. In fact, I& #39;m liable to hear it even when it isn& #39;t there. All the time. So what& #39;s the difference? I think it& #39;s to do with interaction with other mental states. /6 #autism
The implicit instruction one is demanding some action as a result, and I think #autistic people have a great deal of inertia a lot of the time that slows us changing tasks. This makes picking up on and acting on implicit instructions even less likely? /7
Whereas picking up on criticism fits nicely with the sort of C-PTSD we often pick up from our endless failed interactions with NT people - we become very very sensitive to such things and have been conditioned to expect criticism - is that just me? /8 #autism
Similarly, I tend to totally misunderstand sarcastic criticism. Like if a friend says, jokingly, that something I did was crap, I& #39;d unfailingly take this to heart. I& #39;ve tended to avoid people who like using this sort of humour. /9 #autism
Whereas sarcastic praise is fine. I can handle that, even though it& #39;s critical. It& #39;s very confusing. /10 #autism
Another type of thing I& #39;ll misunderstand is exaggeration. I& #39;ll always take it at face value. If someone says they& #39;ve had the worst day ever, I& #39;ll believe that and be horrified for them. Anyone else do this? It& #39;s like my brain doesn& #39;t accept exaggeration as an option /11 #autism
So many times I& #39;ve been amazed that people have seemingly recovered so quickly from what they described as dreadful, terrible things. I just never picked up on the fact they were exaggerating for effect. /12 #autism
Whereas I& #39;m actually very good at identifying when people aren& #39;t telling the truth, especially those little white avoidant lies like & #39;I& #39;m fine& #39; when they& #39;re not. This seems to fit an easy pattern I can handle. I dont know why. /13 #autism
I& #39;m not sure whether there& #39;s a unifying pattern here, but I think that the issues around inference become more complicated when criticism is involved, due to the insidious effects of trauma in #autistic people. /14
Once again it seems possible that an old obvious identifier of #autism may actually be inextricably mixed up with the symptoms of trauma, like so many other traits. /15
