LOL! Took me awhile...

Post Reply New Topic

So, when I went to my daughter's last parent teacher conference, the teacher told me she is a very advanced writer for her grade and shows a lot of promise.

When I came home, I shared the feedback with my daughter and said "You must really like writing, huh?" and she said "Actually, I don't, and I don't even think I am very good at it." Since then, I have tried to encourage her writing and have asked if she is starting to enjoy it more. She has insisted that she does not like writing and doesn't know why her teacher thinks she is good. She got upset one day when her teacher suggested she could be a writer when she grew up.

Today through a different conversation we figured out why there was such a huge gap. She thought that when her teacher said she was a "good writer," her teacher meant she had neat handwriting! LOL! And when I asked her if she "liked writing," she thought I meant the physical act of putting the pencil to the paper!

Now that we have clarified what is meant, she does like writing and maybe she will be a writer when she grows up! For as much as I realize my kids interpret things literally, sometimes it takes me a long time to figure it out!

Great you figured it out!

Recently, my friend brought her new dog by to visit. We decided to play with the dog outside, and I told my son: "We're going to hang outside for awhile." When we got outside, my son said: "What are we going to hang off of?"

LOL!

It always reminds me how language itself is a "second language" for our kids. Just like idioms throw foreign speakers off, so too for our kids.

Yes! My son is teaching me to speak more precisely, it's great. English is my husband's second language. He learned it in his twenties. He is now familiar with many figures of speech, but will mix them up sometimes. The other day, he texted me:"No matter what happens, I love you." My phone was on a table, and my friend (who could see the text) said:" Omg! Is everything ok?" But, I knew it was that he meant to say: "I always love you." I was right.

My father always demanded that we be careful to say exactly what we mean when we speak. I thought it was because he was a lawyer, but, looking back, I now wonder if he had some Aspie traits.

Just today, I needed to explain "window shopping" to my son. He thought it meant shopping for a computer OS.

I used to think window shopping was looking through the windows at stores instead of going inside. But then I figured out it meant just looking in stores and not intending to buy anything. I am not fond of window shopping because then I have to resist buying if I see something I like and I don't have any money to spend and I don't want to use my credit card.

My mom told me how the men who put siding on our house cut corners and I told her they had to cut them off so they could fit it on our house. She then had to explain to me what it meant after she realized I was being literal.

I wonder if some of the literal interpretation has to do with being more of a visual thinker? All of these examples make me think that when someone says "corners" or "windows", if you have a visual association with that word in your head, that is how you will interpret it. I (though not on the spectrum) tend to think visually too, and I sometimes have trouble distinguishing between what someone is actually saying and the picture that has arisen in my head.

I dunno...my daughter is a visual thinker, but my son is not. He actually has a harder time with idioms and such. Which is interesting in presentation, because he otherwise appears to have advanced verbal skills.