Theory of Mind

for me it was more in understanding that

A) I have thoughts

b) you have thoughts

c) that we think differantly/

Indeed I see metaphors very visually. I don't know whether that is exclusive to people on the spectrum though. I can work out the metaphor easy enough but not without the distraction, and private amusement, of the visual sensation.

Forty years ago while working a groundsman in hospital grounds as a summer job I passed a justified comment about a fellow groundsman to a nurse I was talking to, an Irish lass from whom I might have expected such a saying. She replied "that's ten years of your life for maligning a friend". That has haunted me ever since, like it was really going to happen and I really did worry about it. It seems to me to have very real meaning.

Being eccentric and different and therefore potentially annoying to NTs I've been told to do a lot of things like, "take a running jump", "take a long walk along a short pier" I actually visualise these vividly and react to them as if a real threat.

I was also inclined to over interpret advice. When about 11 I was told by my parents I should always respect men of the cloth (ie ministers/clergymen). I put this into practice routinely, but included the Rabbi (I grew up in a strongly Jewish area). It ended up with the rabbi making enquiries about me why I wasn't attending attending Jewish scripture classes. I had to be told to stop doing it.

But is that just being impressionable? Or is it part of the AS. I'm not clear.

'Like teaching a granny to suck eggs' threw me completely when I heard it. I got a literal image of an old lady sucking on an egg which was disturbing/confusing. Apparently its a saying that represents the futility of teaching someone something they already know.

And the metaphor 'as good as a chocolate teapot' just makes me hungry o.o

Sarcasm and irony are hard to pick up on unless obvious. Doesn't help many people seem to base these remarks on their own social cirlces private history meaning I'm left in the dark until someone takes the time to explain, which completely ruins the mood and sends me running.

The strange thing is I'm a big fan of comedians such as Michael Macintyre who uses these techniques to provoke laughter, though I suppose the fact that he is a comedian makes me more aware that I shouldn't take what they say too seriously.

I can recognise metaphors and similies in written text, its just dealing with people face to face and trying to judge their tone as well as the other variables that makes it difficult to fully understand what they're on about.

I find it hard to follow dramas when there are multiple plot lines; the same applies to works of fiction, which I can only understand without resorting to wiki if the plot is simple, so I usually read factual books.

It is hard to know when people are being sarcastic and ironic. I can use irony myself but do not understand other people's irony. I am better at metaphors, but I do not get subtle jokes because reading between the lines is difficult. But I  understand  very obvious  jokes like the ones used in LIttle Britain or Fawlty Towers, which make me laugh a lot.

You might find Digby Tantam's "Can the world afford Autistic Specrum Disorder? Nonverbal communication, Asperger's Syndrome and the Interbrain" (Jessica Kingsley Publ 2009) useful in this respect. It is a novel theory but one I've found useful in trying to understand my own thinking and social perception.