All the world’s a stage: Evaluation of two stages of metaphor comprehension in people with autism spectrum disorder

•We investigate two processing stages of metaphor comprehension in ASD.•Groups are matched for semantic knowledge in addition to IQ.•ASD group automatically and simultaneously generated metaphoric and literal meanings.•Difficulties for ASD group during the selection (suppression) stage.

PurposeIndividuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are commonly believed to have difficulty understanding figurative language; however, recent evidence suggests that these difficulties may reflect processing differences as opposed to inability to comprehend. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether processing of metaphorical and non-metaphorical sentences in individuals with ASD is the same as or different from individuals without ASD.MethodologyWe investigated generation of metaphorical meaning and suppression of literal meaning in high-functioning individuals with ASD and controls. Groups were matched for semantic knowledge and IQ. Individuals completed a sentence decision task designed to evaluate presence of metaphorical meaning.ResultsWe found that people with ASD generated the literal and figurative meanings for metaphors similarly to controls, but had more difficulty inhibiting the unintended meaning than the control group.ConclusionsWe provide evidence that people with ASD do not have difficulty with generating figurative meaning, but that the stage of suppression should be further investigated.