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claire3005

does anyone find this?????

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Hi all

 

Just wondering if anyone else found this with there kids my k takes everything literally all the time you cannot have a laugh with him so to speak as he doesnt think what you do or say is funny anyway but it seems to be getting worse you cant open your mouth these days without him taking it the wrong way.

Do your kids do this????

Is this anything to do with ASD or is it common??????

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This is what Michelle wrote on another thread:

When J said he was catching squirrels yesterday, I didn't think he meant real squirrels! But then i should have realised he doesn't say anything that isn't true. I had a hard time on the train home - because silly me at some time in the past had said to him " mummy will be home before midnight or I'll turn in to a pumpkin" So I had at least an hour on the train journey with a very worried J asking if he will turn into a pumpkin. After a hundred times of telling him " no we will be home by 10, and it won't be midnight and even if it was midnight you won't turn into a pumpkin! (much to the amusement of other passengers) I then make the silly mistake of saying " But pumpkins make nice pumpkin soup" so he said back " I don't want to eat myself!!!

Will teach me not to make jokes with him in the future.

 

Yes, it is one of the symptoms of ASD.

Taking things literally, all the time. Not getting jokes or puns or figurative language. Michelle's son is nearly 7, my son is 12. How old is K?

B's sense of humour is good, but was based on slapstick, Laurel and Hardy, Chuckle brothers type stuff for years. He used to get cross when he took something literally, or didn't understand and people laughed at him or got impatient.

He's 12 now, and slowly understanding some forms of jokes, but he needs to discuss why they are funny, to make sure that he's got the reason right. He likes Gary Larsen, because the picture interprets the text and vice versa.

So yes, it's sometimes tricky and confusing for us and him, but it's also funny and interesting. Now you've joined us all in the Twilight Zone, there will be lots of opportunities to swap stories and strategies.

Welcome to a whole new experience!

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Jokes are banned in our house - unless it's C that's making them. He does have a sense of humour, but it's very dry (either that or firmly located in the toilet, he LOVES toilet humour). But any jokes or puns we say make him angry and confused, and he will tell us we are being stupid and silly.

He is quite good with figurative speech, he spent a year studying it - making a stockpile of meanings in his head, but he still gets confused when he encounters a new one.

He can also be very pedantic and precise, for example when he went to a party last month his gran asked him afterwards "How was your party?", he replied " It wasn't MY party, silly! It was Ryan's party."

Also, we cannot laugh - unless it's clear we are laughing at one of his jokes, and even then he can get upset with us. Sometimes we simply cannot win! But we understand it's outwith his control and take care to explain (if he'll listen) what it is we mean.

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Taking things literally, all the time . . . He's 12 now, and slowly understanding some forms of jokes, but he needs to discuss why they are funny, to make sure that he's got the reason right. He likes Gary Larsen, because the picture interprets the text and vice versa.

So yes, it's sometimes tricky and confusing for us and him, but it's also funny and interesting.

Well I'm 28 and this description could apply equally well to me. Yes I get confused (metaphors are a big problem), yes I get angry, but, as Bard says, it's also very interesting because I can help others who don't have such difficulties to see just how figurative and hence how interesting language is.

 

As for strategies, learning together in a safe environment where it is ok to make mistakes has got to be a first step. My college are brilliant with my difficullties here, although sometimes I think they are a little exacerbated by my lack of understanding!! Strategies on this forum are easy - just ignore Baddad :whistle:

 

There have been several threads about literal/non-literal language in the past - it would be worth doing a search for them.

 

Mumble :)

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I know the feeling. My youngest who is 6 with ASD my husband jokingly said I bet you will not jump out of the window. My son then went upstairs and try to jump out of his window (luckly we stopping him in time). This was extremely stressful and it is hard at times to think a head.

 

Mandy

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I do tend to take things literally. I also have this thing where if someone says something to me and they're laughing while they're saying it I can see and acknowledge the laughter but I can't link it with what's being said so I kind of know that they probably don't mean what they're saying but I believe what is said simply because it has been said! Hope that makes sense! :tearful:

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Yes we've had this too with our daughter - and it is part and parcel of ASD. I vividly remember one when she was about 7 or 8 coming home and saying to me that she couldn't understand why xxx had called her a big head because he actually had a bigger head than hers!!

 

Over the past few years we've worked really hard on this - especially on the phrase saying side of it - we bought a book of idioms and went through it - picking out a new one each day and laughing about how silly the phrase is - sometimes we even sit down and all try to think of as many as we can and whose is the funniest.

 

The consultant also recommended watching Third Rock from the Sun with our daughter for her to see the perspective of someone else taking everything literally.

 

Take care,

Jb

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This thread gave me real food for thought and made me wonder if my son (ASD 14) laughed at jokes because we did (like bikergal - he was given clues that he should laugh), but then I realised he too adored toilet humor and jokes which are punny or somehow play on information he already has or likes.

 

A test! Bikergal and Mumble, my daughter came home with this joke last week and my son found it hilarious. Will you?

 

A neutron goes into a pub, orders a drink and then asks the bartender 'How much?'

The bartender says 'For you? No charge!'

 

Hopefully you are laughing :pray: ...my son did because he enjoys science and 'got the joke'! But with everything, even humor, it can often be down to personal taste too. My mother used to love to tell me jokes because I never got the punchlines, which made her laugh even more because she couldn't understand how her university-educated daughter couldn't get the simplest of jokes. I have not been diagnosed with ASD, but do share characteristics. But in my defense, I shall just say that the jokes weren't funny! :rolleyes:

 

On another note, I remember my son watching a telly advert in which Tesco were promoting their range of extra large wrapping paper during the Christmas holiday season. They claimed it was large enough to wrap whatever you needed, and the camera slowly panned to show a bicycle carefully wrapped up with bow. Now, I laughed because it was playing on the joke that the paper was large enough to wrap up a bike, but it was obviously a bike underneath. So, what was the point of wrapping it? My son asked me why I was laughing, and every time I tried to explain why, he disagreed that that was funny. Maybe the joke was not the funny...or maybe it was for me and my sense of humor...it's a matter of taste sometimes.....

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A test! Bikergal and Mumble, my daughter came home with this joke last week and my son found it hilarious. Will you?

 

A neutron goes into a pub, orders a drink and then asks the bartender 'How much?'

The bartender says 'For you? No charge!'

:tearful: No. A neutron on its own can't go to the pub.

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My DH really struggles to remember not to use any form of sarcasm with eldest dd. She believes what he tells her, and I find myself continually trying to explain why he didn't mean it :(

 

We stopped today at the services on the way home for a bite to eat. While we were waiting, youngest dd announced she had a joke. This is it..........

 

 

What happens when a man touches wires?....(we all say, don't know J, what will happen if a man touches wires)............................he gets electrocuted and dies :unsure:

 

 

Then she said she had another joke

 

 

What will happen if a cow falls out of tree? (we ask what)..................it will bang its head :huh:

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My DH really struggles to remember not to use any form of sarcasm with eldest dd. She believes what he tells her, and I find myself continually trying to explain why he didn't mean it :(

 

We stopped today at the services on the way home for a bite to eat. While we were waiting, youngest dd announced she had a joke. This is it..........

What happens when a man touches wires?....(we all say, don't know J, what will happen if a man touches wires)............................he gets electrocuted and dies :unsure:

Then she said she had another joke

What will happen if a cow falls out of tree? (we ask what)..................it will bang its head :huh:

 

 

Hello,

 

My son loves puns, but he wants every metaphor to be explained (which is not possible). Worst of all, he takes every instance of name calling and teasing (usually at school) seriously and personally.

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Hello,

 

My son loves puns, but he wants every metaphor to be explained (which is not possible). Worst of all, he takes every instance of name calling and teasing (usually at school) seriously and personally.

 

 

My son shares a lot of this, especially taking all name calling really seriously. What I find interesting is that he is also very much aware of people's tone of voice (Which I find it very strange with his AS condition)- so if I pointed to something he did in a bit of an angry voice so I am ALWAYS ANNOYING him! while the same comment can be accepted if my tone of voice is different.

 

Similar to krystaltps, jokes are banned at our home unless they are told by him (and of course we all have to laugh).

 

Pragmatic

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