Literally answering questions

Post Reply New Topic

My friends and I drove from a restaurant to a Starbucks. One of my friends asked me how I got to the Starbucks and I said I drove. He was really asking me what route I took. I think I didn't pick up on the implied meaning of the question. Does this sound aspergers?

Not necessarily.

People do that all the time: take things too literally.

If you do this constantly, then I might suspect you are an Aspergian,

Based only on what you said, I'd say that's a mistake anyone could make, assuming there was a reasonable transportation alternative (walking, public transit, etc.). I think your interpretation says nothing at all one way or the other about whether you have Asperger's.

If the same question were asked to me given where I live, I would probably answer that I take the bus, so the same way as you. That said, I would say both the route and the transportation mode would both be literal answers.

Since some of my friends rode together in cars, I thought he might have been asking me if I rode together with someone else. But still, I felt a bit socially clumsy there. I tried to get a diagnosis but "I don't meet the criteria." My gut still tells me I have it on some level though...

There was no reasonable transportation alternative.

Fair enough. I would say, then, that yes, you did take the question a bit more literal than would normally be considered reasonable.


Here's an article about the Broader Autistic Phenotype (BAP). Essentially, it's about people who have autistic traits, but not quite enough to be considered level 1 ASD.
http://www.avaruthbaker.com/uploads/5/0 ... ectrum.pdf

Does this sound like you?

Yeah I'm definitely BAP. How would you deal with this? Cause I feel like I identify more with neurotypical even though I clearly display autistic traits.

Unfortunately, I don't have a good answer for you. Since BAP isn't officially considered part of the spectrum, it tends to be even harder to get any kind of help/advice for that than for high functioning autism.

The article I linked gives you some ideas, but essentially, it's mostly just around learning how you're different and why, and trying to deal with it.

I think this is the sort of question that could be answered two ways without either way being "the literal way". It's a mistake anyone can make, unless you're a mind-reader.

Someone at work last week asked someone else which bus they were catching home, and she answered the actual route number of the bus, when the person asking her was actually asking what time she was getting the bus.

I notice I am more literal when I am stressed out or focusing on other things. One time I was at Goodwill and I was holding a lot of stuff in my arms. It was very uncomfortable and it was noisy and very busy and lot of people around me. Then my mom asked me "where to next?" and I said "we are going to go up to one of the cashiers to pay when our turn comes" and my mom said "Where are we going after this place?" and I realized she meant where we were going next after we leave the store.

Another time I was carrying up a mattress and it was very uncomfortable because it was heavy and I was anxious for it to be over and then my mom told me to "drop it" so I let go and she said "I didn't mean let go, I meant set it down gently on the stairs." I wasn't really paying attention. My brain just stops processing when it is overloaded. It could be from noise, carrying bunch of stuff, stressed out, being interrupted, etc.

I don't see NTs doing this so I guess this is where my AS kicks in.

^ That sounds familiar to me. If I'm feeling a bit fazed out or I'm interrupted from something, I can easily answer too quickly and forget to reflect for a moment whether a less obvious (to me) meaning is intended. Even very common ones that experience has taught me to watch out for will catch me out if they come at the wrong moment - e.g. "Can you X?" is assumed to be "Are you able to do X?" rather than "Will you please do X", despite knowing that the other reading is often more common.

It's no surprise that you identify more with being NT, that is after all how you likely have thought of yourself most of your life (or more accurately, you thought you were normal, 'NT' would only enter the equation once you learn about ASDs and see the word).

Enormous changes in identity and who I identify with have certainly been part of my issues post diagnosis at age 31.


Yeah, stress and focusing on other things make me far less likely to pick up on a lot of things. They both worsen my traits.

It's not a bad thing all the time. Sometimes answering a question literally intentionally is a great way to "oil the gears" so to speak, at a social gathering.