One of the core characteristics of autism is impairments in communication, which often results in those with autism not understanding sarcasm. Understanding communication challenges, particularly autism and sarcasm, is extremely important as it is frequently used for humorous interaction. Humor and ironic speech can be used as an aid in social bonding, which is often challenging for autistic people.
Autistic people often find sarcasm challenging because of differences in processing information and understanding social cues. This can lead to misunderstandings, negative assumptions from others, and missed social bonding opportunities. Both autistic and non-autistic individuals can work towards better communication.
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Understanding autism and sarcasm
Sarcasm, often referred to as verbal irony, involves saying the opposite of what one means. Research states that sarcasm is figurative language requiring the knowledge of what is expected and what has occurred since it emphasizes the contrast between the two.
Sarcastic responses to questions often involve absurd, exaggerated statements. For example, if someone is asked if they enjoyed their flight, they might respond with something like, “Oh, yes, I LOVE getting kicked in the back by a screaming child for three hours!”
However, less clear forms of sarcasm exist and are frequently used. Understanding sarcasm requires interpreting tone, context, and non-verbal cues. For autistic individuals, these important indicators that someone is using sarcasm are hard to recognize and process.
Why do individuals with autism not understand sarcasm?
Autistic individuals struggle with sarcasm because it requires interpreting tone, processing figurative language, reading social cues, and understanding others’ intentions.
Not only is tone often difficult for autistic individuals to interpret, but research shows that no consistent speech patterns indicate sarcasm, making it hard for autistic people to distinguish it. This makes it unlikely for an autistic person to simply memorize a recognizable pattern to alert them to sarcasm.
Figurative language demands more cognitive processing, which is difficult for autistic individuals who struggle with integrating information. Recognizing sarcasm involves understanding expectations, cultural norms, and the speaker’s intentions, especially with subtle sarcasm.
Many times, autistic individuals take situations and language literally. Referring to our previous example, this literal interpretation often results in interactions like the autistic person saying, “Well, that doesn’t make sense because it hurts to be kicked in the back,” and the other speaker stating, “Yeah, that’s the point.”
Typically, this also results in a slight annoyance or disappointment on the sarcastic user’s part and can feel disheartening for the autistic person attempting to interpret the interaction.
Sarcasm is more easily recognized when you know a person well. This also speaks to the closeness that the ability to use sarcasm successfully can bring.
According to recent research, autistic people often struggle to distinguish their thoughts, intentions, and feelings from those of others. They assume others think and feel the same way they do rather than considering the other person’s perspective. This difficulty is connected to challenges in understanding irony.
Additionally, context is a large part of accurately interpreting sarcasm. This involves social cues and understanding what is expected in a situation compared to what was said.
Autistic individuals often struggle to process humor because they focus on specific details and miss other contextual cues.
Impact on everyday life
Since sarcasm can indicate social closeness, autistic people may miss out on bonding moments or seem like they don’t understand others. This can be hurtful to friends and family, who might feel distant from the autistic person, leading others to assume the autistic individual is unintelligent.
Not understanding sarcasm can make an autistic person feel lonely. They may feel like they’re always on the outside of a joke between others despite wanting to be included. It can also be embarrassing to take someone seriously when they’re being sarcastic.
Autistic individuals often trust literal language, finding others’ intentions puzzling and going along with things they don’t understand. When faced with sarcasm, they may appear foolish for not recognizing the absurdity of the literal meaning, even if they sense something about it is odd.
Additionally, literal interpretations and compliance with sarcastic remarks can be seen as having malicious intent in some instances. For example, an autistic server at a restaurant might be asked for a check. If the customer says, “Oh, no rush. I have all the time in the world,” the server might take this literally, missing the tone and the customer’s earlier complaints about slow service. As a result, they may not prioritize getting the check quickly.
How to navigate sarcasm as an autistic individual
Although sarcasm is difficult for many autistic individuals to understand, there are ways to navigate these challenges.
First, practicing sarcasm and studying its use can be helpful. One study showed that with direct instruction and examples, autistic individuals improved their understanding of verbal irony and demonstrated increased brain lateralization for processing it.
With practice and explanations, autistic people can better understand sarcasm and become more aware of the cues and context needed to interpret it.
Part of practicing can be working on taking in more cues when possible. That is, considering whether the tone and facial expression match.
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Does their speech match their typical pattern? Do they appear to be showing happier, agreeable signs when they say positive-sounding things? Do they seem more negative, with a flatter tone, frown, or sighing?
Does what they said match with the mood they were previously conveying seconds ago? Mismatches (especially sudden ones) can indicate that someone does not literally mean what they are saying.
However, practicing is not a perfect art, and even those better at processing verbal irony can still default to literal interpretation. Another strategy is asking for clarification, especially if something seems odd.
Many autistic people ignore their internal signaling that something is odd or doesn’t make sense due to social conditioning. Going with the flow seems to work better in social situations rather than questioning everything people do or say differently than you would. Asking for clarification can help avoid misunderstandings and clarify others’ intentions.
Setting boundaries may be necessary, such as expressing to colleagues, friends, or family that straightforward, plain language is appreciated in serious matters, meetings, or instructions for better communication.
How to help autistic individuals navigate sarcasm
Neurotypical or non-autistic individuals can help autistic people navigate sarcasm by being patient and understanding. Don’t assume literal interpretations are malicious. Autistic people often take words at face value and struggle with processing sarcasm.
Gently correcting literal interpretations of sarcasm without teasing can help autistic people understand and not feel excluded. Providing context and explanations for sarcastic statements is also very helpful.
Research shows that providing context, cues, and explanations helps autistic individuals understand humor and activates brain regions associated with social cognition.
Neurotypical or non-autistic individuals can improve communication by using clear, direct language and minimizing sarcasm. Avoid “beating around the bush” or implied meanings, as autistic individuals often miss these. Saying what you mean makes interactions smoother.
Humor on the spectrum
Patience, empathy, and continuous learning are key to improving communication between autistic and neurotypical individuals. Sarcasm can foster social bonding but relies on tone, intentions, and contextual cues, making it hard for autistic people to interpret.
This can lead to misunderstandings, missed social bonding, and frustration. Both groups can enhance communication by minimizing sarcasm, practicing understanding, and providing clear context and patience.
FAQs
Q: Does autism make it hard to understand what people are saying?
A: Autistic people do tend to have core language difficulties. However, autism does not necessarily make it hard to understand what people are saying, rather what they intend. Autistic people are more likely to take the spoken words literally rather than being able to determine what the speaker wants to convey.
Q: Do autistic people struggle with figurative language?
A: Yes, many autistic people tend to struggle with figurative language, as it relies on multiple cues that must be accurately integrated. However, some studies have found that autistic individuals with similar language skills as non-autistic peers show that they can understand figurative language just as well as their neurotypical peers. There has also been much controversy about why many autistic people struggle in this area, with theories including difficulties with the theory of mind or executive functioning.
Q: Can autistic people understand humor?
A: Yes, autistic people can understand humor. Studies have shown they might have more difficulty with humor in writing, audio-only formats, or nonverbal cartoons. Still, they understand humor as well as non-autistic peers when it doesn’t involve social cues. They may also laugh less in social situations, making it seem like they don’t understand humor.
References
Chahboun, S., Kvello, Ø., & Page, A. G. (2021). Extending the Field of Extended Language: A Literature Review on Figurative Language Processing in Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Frontiers in Communication, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.661528
Lampri, S., Peristeri, E., Marinis, T., & Andreou, M. (2024). Figurative language processing in autism spectrum disorders: A review. Autism Research, 17(4), 674–689. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.3069
Lavenne-Collot, N., Tersiguel, M., Dissaux, N., Degrez, C., Bronsard, G., Botbol, M., & Berthoz, A. (2023). Self/other distinction in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessed with a double mirror paradigm. PLOS ONE, 18(3), e0275018. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275018
Mention, B., Pourre, F., & Andanson, J. (2024). Humor in autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review. L’Encéphale, 50(2), 200–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.encep.2023.10.002
Morsanyi, K., Stamenković, D., & Holyoak, K. J. (2020). Metaphor processing in autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Developmental Review, 57, 100925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2020.100925
Pexman, P., Reggin, L., & Lee, K. (2019). Addressing the Challenge of Verbal Irony: Getting Serious about Sarcasm Training. Languages, 4(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4020023
Purser, H. R. M., Van Herwegen, J., Ranzato, E., & Thomas, M. S. C. (2021). The role of context in verbal humor processing in autism. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 209, 105166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105166
