Subscribe Via RSSHow Learning A Second Language Is Like An Aspie’s First Language
Language and language development are sort of near and dear to my heart because I grew up in a bilingual family and I did psycholinguistics research all through college. There’s also the small detail about my hyperlexia and echolalia/palilalia. (Echolalia = repeating someone else, palilalia = repeating yourself)
I remember standing up in front of a huge crowd of parents in Korean School and giving a speech about why I wanted to be a veterinarian. Parents used to complain about the awards I got, saying it wasn’t fair and that I must have been born in Korea. They didn’t know that my echolalia allowed me to mimic a Korean accent flawlessly. I had a perfect accent yet couldn’t form a complete sentence spontaneously, which baffled them. Of course, anyone familiar with ASD knows how this is.
My issue in Korean is just a magnified version of my issue in English; by the time I get to the end of a sentence the structure has gotten too complex for me and I’m lost! With written forms of communication, keeping up is no problem.
High school French was more of the same; I spoke it with a flawless accent and intonation and did very well with written work. But actual conversation was extremely challenging, as I couldn’t form sentences fast enough nor could I comprehend what was said. So I learned to ace the written portion of any test to make up for any listening portion.
It’s interesting that both experiences basically mirror that of the young child with Aspergers. First we learn sounds and words by imitation, or echolalia. Then we learn to put them together in a more complex structure. And as it gets more complex the aspie gets flustered because of all the processing that must take place.
Sometimes parents in a bilingual home like mine will wonder whether their child’s language delays are due to language confusion or an actual developmental issue. It’s a little late now, but having parallel issues with subsequent languages puts that question to rest once and for all.
8 Responses
Janny – I forgot the “Finally”! Just realized I had “first”, “then”, “and as”…
just curious, do you still today have difficulty with conversation?
It’s not terribly noticeable. I can definitely give facts and instructions just fine, so it wasn’t a problem when I taught.
Social situations can be a little trickier because my repertoire doesn’t get me very far with real socialites. My strategy is usually to let my husband do the talking since we’re often in places where I can’t hear what’s being said. Or I respond with a monosyllable and a smile, so it’s clear what my intentions are. So I usually pass for just nice but quiet.
On second thought, it’s all relative. A lot of the people we are around could manage to make *anyone* feel awkward!
Interesting. I have always been so intimidated by the oral portion of foreign language (I only learned French) that I never got good enough to know if I get lost! I do find the written word easier though.
In your comment you mention not being able to hear what’s said– is it a hearing issue or ambient noise issue? I have so much trouble in the very situations where one is expected to hear the best — parties, etc! — which are unfortunately often the main chances I have to get to know people better and make friends.
Sorry, not trying to devolve into a pity party here — just rambling a bit!
And, I just looked up what hyperlexia is. Many of those characteristics fit my son as well as or better than the PDD dx he has. While I do some more research into that, may I suggest a post comparing that with Aspergers in terms of how that dx helped you?
janny226’s last blog post..The Breakfast at School Story
PS after my post above, I’m finding good info on the American Hyperlexia Assn website, just am interested in your opinion as well!
janny226’s last blog post..The Breakfast at School Story
Would love to post about hyperlexia! It’s still a fairly new concept, so most adults who tell you they have it are probably self-diagnosed (not that that’s a bad thing). There’s still a lot of disagreement about whether it can co-exist with autism/aspergers or whether it’s something separate that looks similar, but many parents on the Hyperlex group on Yahoo mention some kind of ASD diagnosis with hyperlexia.
As for the hearing issue, my hearing is technically great…I just have a hard time distinguishing words from each other. I hear a voice, but the words are all mashed together. Which is why it wasn’t until I began reading written words with parsing between the words that I finally began talking!
Fascinating. I had such a talent for vocab and grammar rules that I loved languages, but couldn’t speak worth a darn. Went into Latin and Greek so I would never have to utter it aloud. Composition (from English into L or G) was pretty bad though. Teachers always said I got the tone or meaning wrong.