AnnaM Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 My oldest takes everything SO literally. Example: Bible lesson says "draw Goliath flat on his back!". She draws Goliath flat and on his back. This was funny the first few times, now it is driving me crazy. Today when she was reading Stuart Little she kept complaining that nothing made sense, so I took the book and we read a few lines together. "Stuart liked to be the first one up, he liked seeing the books standing still on the shelf...and more descriptions of the room". She in exasperation says "SEE! of course the books are still on the shelf, why would they be anything but still? Books can't move!". She was quite emotional over why they would bother to tell her something that was so obvious. I tried explaining that it was a descriptive to give her an idea of what the room looked like, but to her it was useless "well duh" information. I don't know what to do to help her understand these sorts of descriptions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 (edited) Does she have issues with taking figures of speech literally? I'm trying to think of an example but none are coming to me. My son takes what is said at face value though so figures of speech tend to throw him. I'm just wondering how much issue she has with taking things literally and how much might be how she's processing language and/or her own preferences (just the facts please instead of descriptive writing for example). My literal kid is on the autism spectrum but, again, I'm not sure from your examples that your daughter is doing the same things. I think she read the instructions incorrectly on that first example...is that possible? Edited September 6, 2012 by sbgrace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 My son has issues like this. its common in kids on the autism spectrum. I find the most helpful thing is to say, yes, if you look at the words, it means this (you are right!) But sometimes people use words differently, right? They you have to explain the full meaning, like maybe every morning he gets up and looks at it as if its a new day and who KNOWS what the day will be like! The room seems still with no one in it and the books on the shelf are a bigger part of the picture than they would be if there were people doing things in it, because then you wouldnt notice the books, you'd notice the people. She may never really 'get' it, but if you can try to explain the bigger story behind each allusion, she might learn the pattern, that probably if someone is saying something obvious, they are trying to actually make you think about it in a different way. as for the assignments, for now you really should make sure she understands the assignment imo. and hopefully she wont want to go in to a field where people expect a lot of right-brain connections, but things are clear and spelled out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 (edited) This isn't a help, but has she read much Amelia Bedelia (by Peggy Parish, the later ones by Herman aren't as good, IMO)? That might help to explain to her the difference as she understands them and how you (and many of the rest of us) understand things. Edited September 7, 2012 by RootAnn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 This isn't a help, but has she read much Amelia Bedelia (by Peggy Parrish, the later ones by Herman aren't as good, IMO)? That might help to explain to her the difference as she understand them and how you (and many of the rest of us) understand things. This is brilliant! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 It is a kind of "Duh" of course the books stand still. The thing is I don't think it's a description of the room only, but goes to Stuarts character/personality. He likes to be the first one up, he gets to see everything at its freshest/tidy-est... he's an early bird worm getter who is a bit of a neat freak. See If you can help her look at the subtext... what does this say about the character, what is the mood. I think there is a shift in a childs brain from literal to figuritive, maybe she's just not made it yet, or needs a push... not literally though, that would just be mean.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 My kid like this is on the spectrum also. Pointing things out, like with the Amelia Bedelia books, does help some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 (edited) My oldest will pretty much only read non-fiction. Then again, maybe it's me... I would have drawn Goliath flat, on his back too. ;) If you are looking for more specific instruction, there are games, flashcards and other resources that are designed to help children understand figurative speech. http://www.linguisystems.com/products/product/search https://www.creativetherapystore.com/Autism-and-Aspergers http://www.superduperinc.com/search/search.aspx Edited September 6, 2012 by MomatHWTK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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