Things you didn't comprehend as a child because of autism?

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That was something I struggled with (and on a bad day still can do). I couldn't quite grasp the concepts of behind and out of site, if I couldn't see it then it weren't there. Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? But that's how my thought processes worked.

Hmm, this makes me think.... I was telling someone the other day.... People are not real to me unless I meet them. Up until that point they are just... a theoretical construct (?) the idea of a person without the parts. Like, I worked as a telemarketer and my coworkers would get so upset for having to bother people & I would be like "why? They aren't real, they are like... tv actors and musicians. An interesting idea but no one has proved to me that they aren't just a recording at the other end" (I KNOW that this is not likely, and I KNOW that people exist, but they arent real unless I can see them and hear them at the same time. I dont know why)

When I was 5 years old, I heard the phrase 'it's raining cats and dogs' for the first time. Upon hearing it, I looked out of the window to look for the falling cats and dogs. I then pointed out to my mother that there was only falling water, and lots of it. She laughed and told me that the phrase 'raining cats and dogs' means 'raining very heavily'. I wondered why she didn't just say that in the first place.

Like sillyputty, I didn't really understand what a friend actually was, and it is something I still struggle with sometimes. I have come to the conclusion that, on this one, being a friend has different meanings for different people but the fundamentals are still the same e.g. loyalty, actually liking that person etc.

I still struggle to understand the behaviour of some in society to this day. I don't understand why people feel that if they know someone who hasn't got the latest fashion in shoes, the latest mobile phone (or cell phone as it's called in the USA) etc that they feel the need to belittle said person for it. Or why people feel under pressure to get these items themselves. Who really cares? If it's a hobby or something to enjoy etc then fine. But as a tool to apparently 'make yourself look better than others?' This is taking enjoyment and making it pressure and painful. What is the point seriously?

I remember a program called 'Tommorow's World' or something along those lines. It did confuse me, as did the baby on the credits- I didn't really put two and two together. I just figured that it was baby and that babies were meant to be cute to most people.

I didn't used to realise that people were sentient, and when I did, I had a strange idea that they could see themselves without looking through the mirror- and I was very jealous of them. It's like I couldn't seperate my perception of them with their perception of themselves. I didn't tend to think of myself or reflect on the possibility of myself until I was about 6.

I used to think it was ok the touch strangers hair, faces and steal their bus tickets. Their protests didn't apply to me because apparently words literally only had meaning if they came from someone familier- that stopped suddenly at around 7.

I still have a copy of the Dr Suess book club edition of "YOU WILL GO TO THE MOON", in which children of the late 50s and early 60s are solemnly promised to grow up to commonplace adventures like docking their rockets with giant space stations and living on a moon base. It's how I know I'm still a kid. If I were grown, I'd be Steve Zodiac zipping about the galaxy on the Fireball XL-5...

I think this is normal for all five years olds. All young children are literal because they don't have the ability to think outside the box, look behind the layer of words to understand what the person means.





I remember when I was three or four, I learned other people had names and I wasn't the only one who had one so whenever labels were placed on people, I thought it was their name. One time at day care I heard a teacher saying "Kids" and I thought it was someone's name. Another time I heard someone saying "friend" and I thought it was a name.

I couldn't understand the routine dishonesty, which was usually engaged in under the premises of politeness.

Does anyone remember on Sesame Street how the puppets were behind that little wall? I used to crane my neck and try to see what their feet looked like, and if anything else was going on in the background.

I also assumed Bob Newhart had had a transplant. I'm dating myself there, I know.

I don't think I understood television at all. Could not figure out why when you watch a show, that show does not exist on that show.

Edit: Don't know if that's really autism related or general flakiness.

On the other hand, my dad had to spend an hour explaining to me the difference between "talk" (speech sounds) and "a talk" (conversation). "Lie" was another confusing word because I couldn't figure out how one word could have 2 meanings...

Family relationships. Who or what were uncles and aunts and cousins etc. Also roles of mothers and fathers. I called my parents by their christian names until I was around 16 years old.

I guess that was my logic behind rolling it into a ball... But seems it was more "civilized" to fold it neatly.

abuse.

and that I was different than Chinese or African Americans. I was convinced I was Chinese. And I would buy hair products for African Americans because I didn't comprehend that their hair was different than mine.

I couldn't comprehend meanness. To this day, unfortunately, I can't

When I was 3, I couldn't comprehend the word soon. I thought it must just be a unit of time that I hadn't learned yet. I would ask what soon was, and I would get "Stop bugging me!" (looks at hands, nope no bugs). So I'd ask why they thought I was giving them bugs. "You're driving me off the wall!!" Ok... 1) I don't know how to drive. 2) Even if I did I'm fairly certain I would have no idea how to drive on or off a wall. 3) I don't even see a car anywhere inside the house, so how could they even make the mistake of thinking I'm driving them somewhere that as far as I know is impossible to drive??

Yeah I know, 3 is a pretty literal age. But it still drives me off the wall when people use such ambiguous, imprecise words like "soon".

Worse, when people use the expression "I'll be back in a few minutes" when they actually mean "I won't be away long" but they know it'll take them about half an hour or an hour to come back. This drives me bonkers, I used to take the "few minutes" literally and wait and despair.

I can remember in the first or second year of high school having the thought
"Wouldn't it be horrible if when people say something, they really mean something else?"

I think I was in college (or later) before I understood that a large percentage of what is
said is supposed to convey an underlying meaning. I just never caught people's "hints"
and "unspoken suggestions." (In the world of film, it's called "subtext.") I thought what they said
was what they meant and there was nothing else to it.

Now I consciously look for underlying meanings. I don't catch them right away, but I understand that
anything someone says can actually be an attempt to communicate something else, and frequently
I can figure it out. Of course, by using part of my energy trying
to figure out the true meanings of words or gestures I'm slowing down my comprehension
of the conversation overall. I don't do well in groups of people talking.

Sorry, just noticed the thread question was specific to autism. To clarify, I'm not autistic -- I'm on the aspie end of the spectrum.

When I was in kindergarten, I used to watch and act out an exercise video of my mom's and there was this one part I would always fast forward through because the woman on screen said "If you want thighs like these, you should _______." I thought she meant that I would turn into a woman if I did that exercise.

On a slightly related note, my mom's favorite movie at the time had a scene where a man ran across a city park to grab a woman and kiss her, and she fought with him for a while and then told him how much she loved it. I didn't understand that the couple probably knew each other before that incident, and I tried acting it out in early elementary school....

I'd go up to girls my age and grab them and try to kiss them while afterwards informing everyone that they were my girlfriends. I remember getting sent to the principal's office when I was in 2nd grade and being told that that was wrong....then I started looking up their phone numbers and calling them on the phone...

People in real life have just always seemed like animals to me. The way that I learned that other people do not like to be touched unless they ask for it is from watching how people treat their cats and dogs on television shows - they aren't constantly holding or stroking their pets because they are adorable. In fact, all they do is talk to the bigger ones...