Autistic people tend to take things literally, even in situations where it doesn’t make sense.

In my case (and for many autistic people) this is because I’m a visual thinker. Every word someone says provokes an image in my brain.

Those images are tied directly to the words.

One example of this in my life happened the other day in a text conversation with Abby.

She said “vacuumed” but what she really meant was “devoured.”

When she said that, I immediately pictured her vacuuming up the food (peanut butter cups).

I was going to respond in confusion, but then I realized that I was confused because I had probably misinterpreted her.

I thought about the context a little more, and figured it out.

Abby knows me well enough that she anticipated my confusion, but decided to say it anyway as a mental challenge for me

It was certainly effective.

I find these situations humorous, not embarrassing. My brain is just like this, and I might as well embrace the silly aspects.

There are a lot of times when I’m not able to figure things out on my own, though.

If I were to respond “What do you mean ‘vacuumed’?” She would have just explained what she meant.

Responding directly & explaining things you see as obvious can really help autistic people.

It’s not that we’re being deliberately obtuse, or pretending not to understand things.

Authority figures can get really frustrated with us for being “Smart Alecks” when that’s not what’s happening.

We’re often genuinely confused about things that others already understand.

So if an autistic person (or any person) asks you a question about something you thought was obvious, please give them the benefit of the doubt.

Answer them directly. It can go a long way in facilitating effective communication.

Not everyone sees things the same way.