Can you test yourself for language pragmatics?

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Sea Gull
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07 Jul 2009, 3:33 pm

I've heard that those with Asperger's/HFA may have trouble with language pragmatics.

Is there a way to test yourself on language pragmatics? Are there any self-administered tests?



Aimless
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07 Jul 2009, 5:33 pm

I asked at an IEP meeting what they meant by pragmatic language skills. I knew what the word meant but not how it applied to language. I was told it's eye contact, waiting your turn, not interrupting, not going on and on etc. i.e. the social aspects of communication.



Cassia
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07 Jul 2009, 9:57 pm

As a linguist, I've found it interesting that what's discussed as 'pragmatics' or 'pragmatic language skills' when talking about Asperger's/autism is not quite the same as what I've normally heard called 'pragmatics' by linguists. Or perhaps more accurately, what linguists mean by pragmatics is a broader area that the 'pragmatic language skills' in Asperger's discussions fits within.

In Asperger's/autism discussions, the meaning I've seen is more or less what Aimless describes; things like knowing when and how to start and stop a conversation, talking when it's your turn, knowing how to keep a conversation going, etc.

In the broader linguistics meaning, it's about using and understanding language in context - which I think is actually also relevant to Aspergers/autism. For example, taking too many things literally is a pragmatics problem. There is a whole area of pragmatics that deals with how people use language to mean things that are not included in the literal meaning of their sentences.

(Sorry if this was off-topic; I know it doesn't have anything about a test in it.)


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Danielismyname
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07 Jul 2009, 10:08 pm

No.

It's the understanding of the points of the conversation you're partaking in. Semantics is using language to communicate, whereas pragmatics is understanding what you and the recipient are saying. People with AS have problems with pragmatics, whereas those with autism have problems with pragmatics and semantics.

I don't really understand the meaning of most words/conversations. More often than not, I'm just repeating stuff by rote without really knowing the complete picture (not to mention that I can't explain what most words actually mean in the context of what impact they have and what they wrought. The same with actions too in many ways).



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Sea Gull
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08 Jul 2009, 6:25 pm

Cassia wrote:
As a linguist, I've found it interesting that what's discussed as 'pragmatics' or 'pragmatic language skills' when talking about Asperger's/autism is not quite the same as what I've normally heard called 'pragmatics' by linguists. Or perhaps more accurately, what linguists mean by pragmatics is a broader area that the 'pragmatic language skills' in Asperger's discussions fits within.

In Asperger's/autism discussions, the meaning I've seen is more or less what Aimless describes; things like knowing when and how to start and stop a conversation, talking when it's your turn, knowing how to keep a conversation going, etc.

In the broader linguistics meaning, it's about using and understanding language in context - which I think is actually also relevant to Aspergers/autism. For example, taking too many things literally is a pragmatics problem. There is a whole area of pragmatics that deals with how people use language to mean things that are not included in the literal meaning of their sentences.

(Sorry if this was off-topic; I know it doesn't have anything about a test in it.)


Yea, I think that's what I was thinking about. I heard that it has to do with adapting language to the social context of the situation.

For example, I used to have a big problem with sounding like I was fact dropping with people, but didn't seem that way with professors or those formally educated in the particular area (I would talk similar to how they talk in peer-review journals or textbooks). Someone told me that I needed to explain what I was doing as I was presenting facts (meta-communication) so that instead of it appearing as fact dropping, they'd be able to follow my actual thoughts that were my own. I still sometimes have problems with that. I don't know if that has anything to do with it?

Do you know if there any tests out there to further test if there's any particular deficits I should work on? I know my formal language is good, but other types of language probably should be worked on.