Aspies & imaginative play and metaphors -- I played D&am

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DSM-IV and standard books on Aspies say we can't understand metaphors, and engage in imaginitve play. Prior to puberty, I had a large circle of geek nonathletic male friends and I played chess and Dungeons and Dragons, and played with action figures like star wars and Gi Joe and transformers and Robotech.

I imagined I was storm shadow, a GI JOE ninja. for example. I also read comic books and learned about Wolverine.

so wtf about this claim of metaphors?


After puberty i strated liking girls and uh girls don't seem to like computers, chess, and D&D.......
My point though is that As an Aspie I had no problem understanding metaphors like step up to the plate, and imaginative play.

I've never had any problem with metaphors either,I think it's a trait that only some people
have.As for the subject of imagination,I'm not sure about the play aspect in children but
as far as adults go,there is more of an issue surrounding the ability to 'imagine' what is likely
to happen next IRL,especially in imagining how a relationship might develop,rather than the ability to think creatively or fantasize. When I was young I sometimes used to live in a
fantasy world !

They do not mean it applys to everyone...


A person with autism has difficulty with social interaction, communication and imagination, and will show some of these characteristics:

Imagination

• Cannot foresee the consequences of their actions.
• Very worried by changes in routines or unexpected events.
• Likes set rules, and may overreact when people break them.
• Often has special interests that may become obsessions.
• Finds it difficult to see or imagine another person's point of view.

Communication

• May not understand tone of voice, gestures or expressions like frowning or grinning.
• Takes similes and metaphors literally.
• Finds it difficult to hold conversation.
• May seem argumentative, stubborn, or angry....
• ...or over-compliant, agreeing to anything even if untrue.
• May use formal, stilted or pedantic language.
• May seem inattentive or unresponsive.
• Can be honest to the extent of bluntness or rudeness.

Social interaction

• Seems isolated or not to care about others.
• Cannot read body language or understand the need for tact.
• Behaves inappropriately or oddly.
• Avoida eye contact when feeling worried or under pressure.
• Dislikes physical contact.

Last edited by logitechdog on 03 Jan 2007, 11:58 am, edited 2 times in total.

Oh! That explained it very well! I get it, now! That's how I am, I guess. I've always been very creative and in "my own little world of imagination," especially as a kid. I did play very "autistically," though, lining things up and such. And I don't have problems with figures of speech, either. I do have trouble getting jokes, if it's a second meaning that I've never heard before, but other than that, I don't have a problem in that area.
-OddDuckNash99-

Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I've never had too much trouble understanding metaphors, but I can almost never recognize them. In school if I was given a piece of writing and asked to find and analyze the the metaphor in it I could do it in a flash, but if I was reading the same thing just for pleasure I would never see the metaphor even if it was really obvious. I guess I just take things at face-value.

Sometimes I don't immediately recognize something as a metaphor, but once I do, it's easy to understand. Apparently, I'm a lot better at understanding metaphors than a lot of others I know - just takes a bit to recognize it in the first place.

I still play DnD honestly. I love nothing more then roaming around a fantasy world.

That makes sense.

I have no problem with metaphor. Actually thinking in comparisons, like conjuring up vivid visual imagery that symbolizes my feelings rather than describing them outright, may be easiest of all. For example, images of trying to walk underwater, on the bottom of the sea, or of becoming a breathing stone statue say more to me than the words "I feel depressed", which sound like a flat label of sorts. It's probably due to my thinking being visual more than anything, but I'm sure there may be many people with predominantly verbal thinking who are the same way.

I obviously do miss out on many subtleties of face-to-face interaction - the context of words, the shades of meaning that may be conveyed by gestures and facial expressions, and the like. I may misunderstand what I'm told and take it either more literally or just not the way it was intended at all. I think, to an extent, I'm mindblind. I mean, everybody is probably mindblind to a certain degree, but I seem to have greater trouble understanding people who are not like me than is usual.

All these things seem to be something quite different from understanding or not understanding literary metaphor, or expressing your thoughts and feelings in an indirect way through imagery (and relating to imagery of this kind, accordingly).

As for imagination - I also used to live in a dream world as a child, and later too, and I have a need to try and be creative. But I do have difficulties coming up with ideas spontaneously, and imagining how a relationship could go or what to say/do in a certain social context could also present a problem.

I have to wonder how much some of those hallmarks are abated by age/life experience.
Stuff like
# Cannot foresee the consequences of their actions.
# Finds it difficult to see or imagine another person's point of view.

I used to have a very difficult time with both of those, but over time it just kinda... sank in, I guess.

I've also found that these are indeed abated by age/experience,slowly but surely.It may have more to do with using logic to learn from the past rather than it happening
instinctively

I never understood dungeons and dragons as a kid and by the time I understood it I had grown out of it. Even little game like rock, paper scissors left me completely on the outer.
Cowboys and Indians were big when I was a kid and see the sense of pretending to be dead when a cap gun went off pointing in my direction and I was invariably a very uncooperative player.