All the world's a stage: Evaluation of two stages of metaphor comprehension in people with autism spectrum disorder

Purpose: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are commonly believed to have difficulty understanding figurative language; however, recent evidence suggests that these difficulties may reflect processing differences as opposed to inability to comprehend. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether processing of metaphorical and non metaphorical sentences in individuals with ASD is the same as or different from individuals without ASD. Methodology: We investigated generation of metaphorical meaning and suppression of literal meaning in high-functioning individuals with ASD and controls. Groups were matched for semantic knowledge and IQ. Individuals completed a sentence decision task designed to evaluate presence of metaphorical meaning. Results: We found that people with ASD generated the literal and figurative meanings for metaphors similarly to controls, but had more difficulty inhibiting the unintended meaning than the control group. Conclusions: We provide evidence that people with ASD do not have difficulty with generating figurative meaning, but that the stage of suppression should be further investigated. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.