Extreme literalness

Post Reply New Topic

This is the one trait of asperger's I'm unsure about. I completely get metaphor and sarcasm and use them more often than most people I know. When I was young I used to take things literally, but not common phrases, it was usually obvious from application of logic that they were jokes/metaphors. What I struggled with were instructions and questions. The most memorable of these was this:

My mum bought me a pair of Hush Puppy boots when I was seven or eight. It was a big deal because we didn't have a lot of money. The first day I wore them, she told me not to go on the grass at school, under any circumstances. I complied. When my childminder came to pick me up she waited at the other side of the field as always. I wouldn't cross it. A friend's big sister tried to force me, I became upset. My mum had said. In the end the friend's sister had to give me a piggy back to the other side. My childminder was livid and she shouted a lot. I cried all the way home. She later told me she had felt bad when I reacted like that, she was used to her own daughter's cheekiness and backchat.

I remember that happening a lot. People looking after me thinking I was being rude/contrary when I was just trying to be "good". My mum even used to do it. It really messed with my head

I'm really good with metaphors and such but it takes me longer than everyone else to get jokes and sometimes not at all. I was 24 when someone explained to me that people don't actually want to know how you're doing when they ask 'how are you doing?'.