When Can Literal Thinking Present a Problem?
As discussed above, one of the biggest issues that children with autism and related disorders encounter with Autism literal thinking is difficulty understanding abstract thoughts and concepts.
While neurotypical people may find it easy to use idioms such as “under the weather”, or “piece of cake”, various studies have found that “children with ASD face greater difficulty than normal children in understanding idioms; they fail to consider social context and tend to interpret expressions literally.” For example, if they are told that information came “straight from the horse’s mouth”, this could confuse them.
More generally, this thought pattern also means that children with ASD may also be more straight to the point when communicating with others – which can sometimes appear as though they are being rude. While this is not the case, it can make it harder for them to communicate, especially among others within their age group.
However, there are many ways in which you can encourage your child to become more familiar with abstract thinking or abstract concepts. For example, simply talking about different idioms and how they are used in conversation can help them to better understand why they exist. You could turn this into a fun game, where each person has to guess the meaning of the idiom, or where it came from.
Therapeutic services can also prove useful when it comes to helping your child see the world from a different perspective, whether they’re enrolled in speech therapy or ABA. If you’d like to find out more or would like to meet one of our qualified, friendly therapists, please do not hesitate to get in touch today.
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