( Everyday Life with Autism )

It is never enough to emphasize the importance of being specific when interacting with individuals with autism to avoid any confusion. However, I’ve always found everything they say, and which may appear illogical to certain people, to be absolutely rational. Here are some examples:

Example 1

We were reading a story and we came across the verb “inching”. I started to explain the meaning of inching by saying: “to move very slowly”. A student’s immediate response was: “centimetering?”

You would think this is funny when you hear this verb for the first time. But doesn’t this verb really make more sense than inching? The centimeter is smaller than the inch (1 inch = 2.5 cm). You see how creative this student is?

Example 2

A student had a hard time keeping her eyes on the board. I told her “Jeannie, please keep your eyes on the board!” Her immediate response was: “I’ll keep my teeth on the board.” Even though it does not make sense at all to us, but why are we all just fine with “eyes” on the board and not the “teeth”? We are so used and conditioned to blindly accept certain idioms and not others. The student again was very creative!

Example 3

At one occasion we were talking about different occupations and professions that end with “-ist”, like biologist, geologist, dentist, chemist, physist, cardiologist…Then, I asked a student what she would like to do when she grows up. Again, her immediate response was: “computerist”. Why is that shocking? When I think about it now, why shouldn’t a person who loves to work on computers or with computers be called computerist?

The above three example are just a few of tens of examples I come across every day.

Conclusion

To me, individuals with autism are independent free thinkers. They really think out of the box. They come up with their own concepts and ideas. They question everything they see or hear. We, off-the-spectrum people, are so conditioned and biased to what we have been used to.

Tip

Don’t make fun of people with autism when they come up with innovative phrasing or vocabulary. They really make an effort to decipher and interpret our “weird” language. Why should “Put yourself in my shoes” and  “It is raining cats and dogs” and “I let the cat out of the bag”,…” make sense to everybody and not “centimetering”, or “computerist”, “teeth on the board”? Think about it! Be flexible!

nadia shanab

Tags: asperger's syndrome, autism, communication, flexibility, free thinkers, idioms, out of the box, parenting, senses, social interaction, tips, what's normal?