Primary metaphors: interpretation by children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects social interaction and language at different levels. Although there is a huge progression of studies aimed at the ASD linguistic research is still less evident, thence the relevance of present article. Since the beginning of the studies on ASD some researches indicate that the language of these subjects tends to be a little literal, hindering the interpretation of metaphors. Considering, though, the advancements in studies on metaphors as well as the different types of metaphors, and taking the personal experience of the authors with subjects with ASD who interpret metaphors at some level into relevance, there came about the demand for this article. Thus, we aim to investigate whether the individuals with ASD present impairment of the interpretation of primary metaphors, associated with human sensorial experiences and considered prior to language, according to Grady (1997). Therefore, an experiment is proposed with ASD subjects and neurotypical subjects based in pointing into figures and verbal protocol. In the first application of the experiment the data did not indicate differences between the two groups of subjects investigated.