Language and the use of it can be varied to the point that if you try to think about all the language that people process and the variety of differing ways people interpret, receive, express, share, not share, avoid, connect, disconnect etc it is rather big and somewhat scary!
I can rote learn fun lines from advertisements, jingles, songs. Metaphors are some of these funny lines. I can learn metaphors as fun lines just like any other. And I commonly jumble them or use them in the wrong places, boldly certain I’m being linguistically creative and sounding like a total pratt. It is many the time I have looked at a supressed giggle or cringed at the overt ones as I fall over metaphors. I like metaphors, they are funny, but there’s a difference between learning language through rote and grasping, retrieiving and applying it based on interpretive understanding.
But to say Autistic people can’t understand metaphor is also a myth.
I may struggle with metaphors I haven’t had fully explained to me but boy oh boy… my entire life is like a metaphor.
My late Grandfather was literal, pragmatic and had social emotional agnosia so he had a very linear, direct and conscientious way of expression. I have met others who are very much non-linear with their language tumbling, with neologisms, idiosyncratic and poetic . I have met people who sense rather than interpret and others who interpret rather than sense.
It is in the end a massive melting pot of expression.
Paul was branded as a “naughty & difficult child” at school. He was classically autistic and non-verbal due to speech articulation difficulties. He had complex sensory issues and appeared both deaf and blind. He gained functional speech around the age of 7 or 8 years old. He went through the mainstream school system with no additional help or recognition of his autism. Consequently, he did not achieve his academic or his social potential and had very low self-esteem.
At age 11, Paul was referred to the children’s mental health service with childhood depression where he was regarded as “developmentally underage” and having speech problems.
As an adult, Paul had a string of unsuccessful jobs, and his mental health suffered. He developed both Borderline and Schizotypal Personality Disorders in early 2007. He was referred to mental health services and misdiagnosed with “Asperger traits with a complex personality”, which did not satisfy Paul or his family. A local autism organisation put Paul in touch with an experienced psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with Autism at 24 years old.
In 2012 Paul was also diagnosed with Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome by an Irlen Consultant who confirmed that he also had face, object and meaning blindness – conditions which Paul describes eloquently in his speeches and training sessions. He also has dyslexia, dyscalculia and also a dissociative disorder.
Having started working as an local autism organisation as a public speaker in 2010, Paul joined their mission to promote autism awareness. His hope is that others will not have to suffer as he did. Now also a core member of our Training Team, Paul continues to enhance true understanding of autism at every opportunity.
Paul has released and published 5 books on the subject of autism published by Chipmunka publishing and has contributed to other books too.
Having overcome many challenges to achieve the success that he now enjoys, Paul’s message is that Autism is a complex mix of ability and disability. He firmly believes that every Autistic person should have the opportunity to reach their potential and be regarded as a valued member of society.
Apart from autism related blogs Paul also write about movies, fashion, art and anything that is of interest.
As of August 2015 Paul now works as a freelance speaker, training and consultant in and around the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire area.
If you are interested please contact him via email at staypuft12@yahoo.co.uk
One thought on “What if Life Was One Big Metaphor?”
Paul Isaacs' Blog 
August 23, 2019 at 6:00 am
Hi, yes this article is actually pleasant and I have learned lot of things from it on the topic of blogging.
thanks.
LikeLike