This is one of primary things described under every definition of autism and assumed in every autistic self-help or information book. I do the opposite.I interpret every speech utterance as meaning something else.

Im 32, self diagnosed this year formally -i finally excepted it and changed things in my life to accommodate it. I had a therapist years ago tell me she thought I had aspergers but I have a compulsive need to resist generally and resist authority especially, so I didnt listen or accept any help.

I spent most of my 20's reading alot of academic, dense books. Even in high-school, English lit was one of my strongest classes. Ive always had an intuitive understanding of analogies, metaphors and later on I learned about rhetoric in speech and studied entry level linguistics. I know now that the reason is because most of all that is just repeating language patterns and repeating scripts with predictable meanings and interpretations. Add to that the knowledge of personality, defense mechanisms and primary drives. All of this makes sense to me because I want the truth about what is being said or written. It doesn't make sense to take anything literally.

The adhd does account for much of all that I admit. The adhd has never been in question.

Do you think Im less likely to be autistic because Ive never had a problem taking things literally or do you think its a learned skill most people on spectrum cant manage well but I just lucked out getting a special interest in something so academic. I grew up in super spiritual church and was super spiritual till my early 20s. My first major special interest was Christianity and specifically a personal spiritual connection to God so I was immersed in metaphor, symbolism and non-literal things from a young age. Yes there are other symptoms Im just thinking about this literalism thing.