Symbolic meaning seems to be hierarchically “above” literal meaning, but for autistic folks symbolic meaning does not “trump” literal meaning.

Symbols are less substantive, maybe, for autistic people. A symbol may mean one thing, but then again it may not. How do neurotypicals know when to ignore the apparent meaning of a symbol while still seeing its nominal reality?

Take the example of a policeman waving traffic through a red light. Which symbolic meanings can be trumped (from above) or undercut (from below), and which cannot?

An earlier page also used the example of set decorations being dumped in a pile onstage rather than hung/placed to establish the scene.

Last revised: June 22, 2007
(c)2007 Dave Spicer
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