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Wednesday, April 10, 2002
 

Asperger's and Concrete-to-Abstract Thinking


It is my observation that individuals with Asperger's (AS) have difficulties making the leap from concrete to abstract ideas.  For example, they have difficulties understanding aphorisms or sayings, such as "A rolling stone gathers no moss" (which of course doesn't really have anything to do with stones or moss, but instead represents an abstract idea).  So, when we say to an individual with AS, "Oh, that's water under the bridge" or "that's icing on the cake," we shouldn't assume that they know what we mean.  Similarly, AS individuals may not understand sarcasm since they accept language in a very literal way.

Why is this important?  We need to be very clear when communicating with AS individuals:  No hidden messages, no sarcasm, no subtleties.


4:30:22 PM    comment []



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