Language and Aspergers

[andrewducker]

This very much sums up how I feel, on a semi-regular basis.  It's an article about how people with Aserpgers interpret language differently to people without, and how they find it difficult to deal with the subtleties that many people strew into language quite happily.

It's not a problem I have nearly as often as I used to - but I do run into people reading more into my language than I put there, or putting things into language that I don't spot.

It also sums up the sense of kinship and familiarity I felt on reading The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time - not that I'm anywhere near that bad - but it reminded me quite a lot of how I felt as a child.

cheers to randomchris for the link.

Comments

[darkoshi]

Neither example says if Joe knows whether or not the Mega-size is the largest beforehand or not. The cashier does not mention whether it is or not. Therefore, when he makes his order, he is not intentionally getting the Mega-size, he is intentionally getting the largest, whichever that may be. So he is neither intentionally getting the commemorative cup nor paying a dollar extra, before the cashier tells him how much to pay.

That said, my first response on the 2nd example was that it was intentional... he is told how much it costs, and he hands over the money, intending to pay the amount which happens to include the extra dollar. Giving something of known quality away seems like it has to be intentional, whereas receiving something of unknown quality is not...

Yet his intention is not really to pay the extra dollar, it is to get the drink.

Both answers seem to have merit to me.