Diagnosed as NT

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The problem with the "takes things literally" aspect of AS is that people expect me to *always* take things literally. They forget that idioms range from subtle to rediculous, and that my memory is fully functional even if other parts of my brain aren't quite normal.

Some idioms are obviously not meant to be taken literally and someone who is paying attention might not know the meaning but will at least recognize that the language is nonsense. People have been using the expression "raining cats and dogs" around me for decades and I *still* get a picture-thought of a bad painting of yellow cats and blue dogs suspended over a crude city-scape at night. I don't think I EVER took that expression literally because even as a small child I knew that cats and dogs don't fall from the sky. When I encounter a totally rediculous statement like that in a conversation it usually stands out. Sometimes I remember hearing it before and sometimes I don't, but either way I know that it's not important.

Others idioms are a little less intuitive and might be taken literally the first few times I hear them. Eventually I have an "a-ha!" moment and realize I've been interpreting things incorrectly. Those ones are even more important to remember because they are non-obvious.

And yes, there are some things that I fall for every single time, but those are actually quite rare.

What's really interesting are the idioms that have more than one meaning. In one case I remember having the "a-ha" experience and then switching from one incorrect (literal) interpretation to another incorrect (reasonable non-literal) interpretation, only to find out later that I was *still* wrong and that the expression meant something even more abstract. That doesn't happen too often.

Some docs realize that idioms are a poor diagnostic criteria because memory and experience play such a huge role in how they are processed. The only way to judge someone's reaction to an idiom is to confront them with one they've never heard before. The older you are, the harder it is to find one that has diagnostic value.

The reason for seeking a formal DX as an adult is that without it, there is always the possibility of being mistaken about having AS. I would rather take the risk of seeing a qualified professional - that is to say, someone who would actually listen to me and go to the effort of doing the best he can to piece the elements of my life together - and have him categorically state that I do not have AS, than to keep wondering whether I do or not.

The point about Idioms makes sense - I used to be far more literal-minded than I used to be but age, repetition and experience can often help compensate for that. The same applies to metaphors and similies and analogies. Of course, some analogies are better than others any any analogy stretched too far will always 'snap'.

I too use logic to figure out what an idiom means, or i recognise them, i'm not stupid after all. Obviously it doesn't rain cats and dogs. However, one of the AS quizes on the net mentions seeing the 'whole picture' first time i read this I actually thought of a large painting and got very confused, it took me about three days to realise what they really meant. I think if someone said to me'whole picture' with an empahisis in their tone, like quotation marks, i would get that they weren't being literal, however if they were more subtle then i would get confused.
Its as i often say to people( in what i suspect may be an annoying way) sarcasm has to be said in a 'sarcastic' tone of voice, if speach is blatent enough i'll get it, if its subtle, i won't.

I'm not quite as literal as everyone else on this thread. For instance, if someone says to me "Do you see the whole picture?", I don't think of an actual painting. There could be other ones I miss and don't realize it, but my family is pretty sarcastic, so I think I have picked a lot of this stuff up. However, while I can't remember my early childhood that well, I have read my student records and according to them, I used to miss Social cues almost constantly....so maybe I'm just a quick learner.

I read the "whole picture" question in the test, and i though it meant looking at an ACTUAL picture and did I see the whole thing or did I only notice details of the picture.

Only NOW after reading the last few posts, do I realise what it actually meant!

Julie