[Source: Almaden Valley Speech Therapy]
Students with autism often have inflexible thinking. When kids hear a comment like “We’ll go in 5 minutes”, typically-developing kids make guesses about it, or understand that the meaning is about 5 minutes and not exactly 5 minutes. Kids with autism tend be concrete thinkers and may take language literally, and think the meaning is exactly 5 minutes! Figurative language is tricky for the student with autism also. They may hear someone say “She knocked my socks off” and may think the speaker’s socks came flying off.
Inflexible thinking causes many problems for students. When a student is inflexible, it will be hard for him to get along with his classmates. It will be like his brain is a rock – hard and stiff, and unwilling to consider other’s actions and feelings. He often misunderstands phrases or behaviors that his classmates use. He takes things literally and won’t understand the nuances of polite language. His classmates use language to navigate socially, but his “rock brain” will prevent him from knowing the differing meanings of language like figures of speech, irony, sarcasm and the difference between bullying and just kidding around.
Inflexible thinking can also cause problems with school or family schedules, as well as environments. Some students can cling to their routines and have difficulty being flexible if their routine is interupted. If there is a change in a child’s regular schedule, it may cause a meltdown or at the very least some anxiety. Some students need to have their environments arranged a certain way, and feel anxious if their items are moved, or out of place.