Ds is very literal

[bitofanovice]

My 8 year old Ds is advanced academically (approx 3 years ahead in writing and maths, more in reading). However, he is a very literal thinker - takes everything very literally, which can be confusing for him at times. I thought he might gropw out of this, but he doesn't seem to be. How can i help him think more abstractly?

[iseenodust]

Marking spot.
Sorry no help. DS is also literal but we blame the parents! Both managed to score 'has no imagination' on school reports.

[MoreBeta]

DS1 is the same. It became more of a problem as he entered Yr 7 and Yr 8 and other children became more sophisticated, sarcastic and manipulative.

I dont want to label DS1 but he does exhibit distict asperger traits which runs in the family. His cousin has just been diagnosed at age 19. His cousin has struggled for years at school and dropped out of college - even though he is a brilliant gifted musician. He just finds dealing with other people extremely difficult.

I do worry about DS1, he just takes everything so literally he will believe anything that another child says and definitley misunderstands nuances and facial expressions all the time. On the plus side he is extremely bright and doing well at school although he finds dealing with the social aspects of it extremely stressful.

Looking for answers too.

[bitofanovice]

Thanks for the replies. He does believe every word people tell him even though logically he knows certain things cannot be true. Dd is 5 and just seems so much more worldly wise, though not so exceptional academically.

[cubscout]

Same issue here so sympathies! Ds once spent 4 days agonising over a piece of badly worded maths because he thought it was solvable and could not accept that a teacher could possibly have made an error. It wasn't! We some time every evening talking through any potentially ambiguous events in the hope he will be able to do this for himself someday. I'm dreading puberty and girlfriends.

[stealthsquiggle]

I would second the 'aspergers traits' comment. Although clearly labels are not always useful, and there are infinite shades of these things, it might be a useful starting point in looking for books that attempt to explain the subtleties and ambiguities of life in a way that makes sense for very literal minded DC

[ilikenoodles]

My 4 year old DS is very literal too, it was brought up in parents evening last week, I'm not sure if I should speak to the teacher further about it or not. He does struggle socially a little but has improved - I was hoping the literal part of his personality would lesson as he gets older but now i'm not sure