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You and YoursÌý- Transcript 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4 |
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TX: 5.10.04Ìý ÌýASPERGER'S DICTIONARY PRESENTER: PETER WHITEÌý |
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Ìý Downloaded from www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 THE ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT WAS TYPED FROM A RECORDING AND NOT COPIED FROM AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT. BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF MISHEARING AND THE DIFFICULTY IN SOME CASES OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS, THE 91Èȱ¬ CANNOT VOUCH FOR ITS COMPLETE ACCURACY. Ìý TX: 05.10.04 - Asperger's Dictionary Ìý PRESENTER: PETER WHITE Ìý Ìý WHITE You wouldn't think there would be much point in publishing a dictionary which tells you that a month of Sundays is a long time, rather than an improbable freak event on the calendar or that playing the goat is behaving stupidly rather than taking to the stage dressed as a goat. But for those living with some forms of autism language can pose particular problems and phrases that most people recognise as similes or metaphors are often taken literally by people with Asperger's Syndrome. Ìý Professor Ian Stuart Hamilton's son was diagnosed with Asperger's six years ago at the age of four and to help his son understand common phrases he did indeed write a book called The Asperger's Dictionary. I spoke to Ian and his son Mark and I asked him first of all to explain the type of phrase which causes most difficulty. Ìý HAMILTON It's any everyday expression that literally means something completely different from its intended meaning. Something like, they've got eyes in the back of their heads. Now of course that doesn't literally mean that somebody is a genetic aberration, it means that simply they're very observant or they don't seem to miss a thing. But things like that somebody with Asperger's, particularly somebody with very florid Asperger's, they take that statement absolutely literally. Let me give one example that was recounted to me by one of my students. She'd got an accountant with Asperger's Syndrome into a job and after a month the boss had come to see the accountant and said - You're doing such a good job I could wrap you up in cotton wool and take you home with me. So the result of this is that the poor accountant was so scared she locked herself in the loos and they actually had to unscrew the door to get her out of the loo. Ìý WHITE So how would your dictionary differ from say any dictionary that dealt with similes? I mean I remember getting set the 11 plus question what does blow your own trumpet mean and answering it to blow your nose. So children have difficulty with this kind of thing anyway. Ìý HAMILTON There are two parts to that question really. The first of them is we can all make mistakes over everyday expressions, the difference is just that people with Asperger's make it far more often, so it becomes a constant problem not just a once in a while gaff. Second, a lot of the dictionaries of similes if you read them you'll find that one definition that's given is often a colloquial phrase that's a paraphrase of the phrase that they're trying to describe. So something like blow your own trumpet might come out as be big headed. Well you think about that one - big headed means somebody with some horrible disease. Ìý WHITE So you then have to explain big headed. Ìý HAMILTON Exactly so. So what you're trying to do is get back to as basic a level as possible. Ìý WHITE Also there with you is your son Mark, who is 10 and has Asperger's himself. Mark, can you just explain how you use this dictionary? Ìý MARK Generally I pick it up once in a while and well I just start reading it and find everyday words. There are occasions however when I simply pick up the dictionary to search for a word or phrase like say, for instance, up on cloud nine. Ìý WHITE Right, so explain to me what up on cloud nine means. Ìý MARK Well I've looked in the dictionary and I've found out that up on cloud nine is a phrase used to describe someone who was very happy or excited. Ìý WHITE And do you find yourself quite often coming across these phrases when you're reading that don't make any sense to you or you think well they actually must be up on cloud nine - that kind of thing? Ìý MARK Yes I come across them quite a few times. Ìý WHITE And do you have other examples of phrases that have puzzled you? Ìý MARK Yes I have quite a lot actually. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Now that's a classic phrase but I still can't get my head round what it means. I searched ... Ìý WHITE So what do you think it means? Ìý MARK Well I originally thought that people shouldn't torment other people just by say, for instance, throwing a stone in a glass house. Ìý WHITE And do you understand now what it means? Ìý MARK Yes. Ìý WHITE Go on, show off to us, tell us what it means. Ìý MARK It's that you cannot criticise someone for something you've already been doing yourself. Ìý WHITE Let me go back to dad. You've got a three star system with three being the most offensive, I see a blonde moment gets a three star rating. Ìý HAMILTON Simply because it's politically incorrect. We decided to err on the side of caution with that, so there are several phrases in there which to be honest are used in everyday life and don't cause offence. I mean my wife's blonde and I don't think she's ever been offended by the phrase a blonde moment. But we decided that it was appropriate to put anything that could offend as a three star rating. I mean very obviously anything involving a four letter word goes in as a three star rating. Ìý WHITE Do you now found yourself listening to language and finding these - these expressions all over the place? Ìý HAMILTON Frankly when I was doing the dictionary I felt like I would need therapy if I'd carried on much longer because the danger is I was carrying a notepad everywhere, in committee meetings people were alarmed when I seemed to be taking a special interest in what they were saying and hurriedly scribbling everything down. Since stopping doing the dictionary, since it was published, I have weaned myself off being quite so attentive to what other people say. But no doubt if it goes into a second edition I'll go through another spate of madness. Ìý WHITE Ian and Mark Stuart Hamilton. And details of that dictionary are available on our website and from the usual number. Ìý Back to the You and Yours homepage The 91Èȱ¬ is not responsible for external websites |
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