Amelia Bedelia?

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Has anyone else here ever been compared to Amelia Bedelia (i.e. you take things literally and people feel like they need to spell out directions for you)? I've been reading a great book this past week ("NLD from the Inside Out"), and it compared the literalness of people with NLD to the literalness displayed by Amelia Bedelia. I had never thought of myself as being particularly literal, until yesterday, when my brother told me I seemed like Amelia Bedelia when it came to following directions (my brother knows next-to-nothing about NLD and has never heard this comparison before). Weird! (two references to Amelia Bedelia in just a few days)

So then I started paying attention to how often my mom or brother (my dad has NLD) had to clarify directions for me or my dad (my family spent the weekend moving my brother into his apartment so there were many opportunities). It happened a *lot*. Looking back, my mom does get frequently exasperated with my dad and me for getting her directions wrong, and it does seem to be linked to literalmindedness, or at least an inability to read between the lines with requests/commands. Anyone else with this problem?

I think my tendency to take comments/requests at face value is also the cause of my extreme gullibility (growing up I was "Gully Gully Girl" and "Miss Gull") and difficulty with sarcasm. If someone says something, then I believe them. Very embarrassing at times.

Anyway, I recommend this book ("NLD from the Inside Out"). It's given me some new insight into myself. I'm going to have my mom read it next.

I remember the name Amelia Bedelia but not anything about the book(s).

Wow! I totally thought of Amelia Bedelia as a character on the spectrum...I don't know very much about NLD....but I had brought her up on another forum as a possible aspie...mostly for the gullability and taking things literally.

Yeah Amelia Bedelia is definitely on the spectrum. Either that, or she is a parody of people on the spectrum. Some of the things she takes literally are...well...kinda obvious.

I was obsessed with one of those books when I was about 8 years old because I could not understand it. I'd read adult texts, but I could not follow along with a picture book. This drove me to distraction.....eventually I sought adult assistance.

Yes I remember the "Date Cake". She cut out calander dates and put them in a cake.

The purpose of those books was to teach children vocabulary and comprehension. The AS traits are just a coincidence

i remember feeling really sorry for her...as a kid.....that a grown woman could be that childlike and confused....

No, I've only been compared to Amelie and somebody else, but I forgot who...

We read the Amelia Bedelia books when I was in the first grade. I remember the baseball game where they told her to steal home plate and she literally stole it. Then someone explained it to her. So she filled home plate with cookies thinking it was a food plate and brought it back to the team. The author of those books came to our school that year, but I can't remember his name. I just remember being disapointed because I'd expected him to talk about his books and where he got the idea for the main character. Instead he just drew pictures the whole time.

Ever since I got over the denial period I've noticed more and more signs of Asperger's from my past.

My mom would always compare me to Amelia Bedelia when I was little. I remember I thought those books were funny, but I remember the first time I heard it I sometimes thought "isn't that what they asked her to do?" I asked my teacher what "drawing the drapes" was really supposed to mean. I learned a lot of "figures of speech" from that book, and probably would've had an even harder time if I had never read it.

Since young children are often confused by figures of speech, I think Amelia Bedelia is supposed to be someone the kids can relate to. Always well intentioned, but quite often confused. That was written before ASD's had such a prevalent understanding, so I don't think it was intended for her to represent someone on the spectrum.

A couple of years ago I had an imaginary friend named Amelia. She dressed like a maid and was my personal "nanny", whom I created to remind me to take care of myself while my mom was away at work. I was absolutely shocked when I was surfing Wikipedia one day and discovered Amelia Bedelia, because not only did she and my imaginary friend have the same first name, but they also wore the exact same outfit. The similarities ended there, but it still made me go .