Not "getting" jokes

[MicheleB]

Do you worry about this if your child exhibits this? Is there anything to do to help?

[luna]

My dd 12 tends to be like that. When she was young, she took everything literally. My brother is constantly teasing and joking. She used to get very confused by it. Now she knows he is joking and is able to understand most of the time. We still have to explain things-she'll simply say, "Wait, I don't get it?" She has poor executive functioning skills and some other problems the doctor didn't put a name to. I would try explaining the difference between taking something literally and how many times jokes have two meanings-that's what makes them funny to the rest of us! We have also learned not to joke with her in that way-It took my brother a while to figure that out, but he gets it now! Good luck.

[homeschool_mom]

I don’t worry about it at all. In the past, my son rarely understood a joke, but now he gets more than I do. If he doesn’t understand something, he asks, “why is that funny?” Then I explain it and he usually laughs. He has also developed a great sense of humor and has learned to joke around.

[Paz]

My dd was like this. She is dyslexic and dysgraphic. Up until around 7th or 8the grade she really wouldn't get jokes and we would explain them to her but she would just have a confused look on her face. She also has a good sense of humor and is very clever. She is very intuitive and now understands most jokes and little nuances that some adults even miss.

[Dobela]

My brother has aspergers and doesn't understand jokes well at all. He is in his 30s. While he forgets the multiple meanings to some words, he also doesn't understand much of the body language related to joke telling.

[MicheleB]

My brother has aspergers and doesn't understand jokes well at all. He is in his 30s. While he forgets the multiple meanings to some words, he also doesn't understand much of the body language related to joke telling.

I was wondering about this for my 10yo as well. While my 8yo doesn't always get jokes, he does well socially (except that he has speech articulation problems and can be hard to understand). But he makes friends and seems to fit in easily.

My 10yo is very rigid in many areas, but he also has OCD. He started medication for that about a month ago and I see some changes as far as not worrying so much about germs. But his rigidness seems to be about the same. Our doctor wanted to wait on exploring the rigidness until he was on the meds for OCD for a while and see how things even out. But he definitely doesn't get the nuances well, he does better playing with younger kids, and often prefers to be alone rather than in a group. So I am wondering if the joke aspect is caused by different things for both boys-- one being more immaturity in understanding and one being in a group of symptoms that may indicate a spectrum disorder (rigidness, immaturity in play and social situations, not getting jokes, etc).

[Misty]

I would explore the possibility of Asperger's a little more. I just responded to your other question about your son not noticing your nonverbal cues, interrupting you while you're on the phone, etc. Now I see this one about not getting jokes and also OCD. Two of my daughters have Asperger's and OCD (they often go hand in hand). It sounds like you may need to explore this possibility a little further and seek out a formal evaluation if you think it's necessary.

Good luck!

[MicheleB]

I would explore the possibility of Asperger's a little more. I just responded to your other question about your son not noticing your nonverbal cues, interrupting you while you're on the phone, etc. Now I see this one about not getting jokes and also OCD. Two of my daughters have Asperger's and OCD (they often go hand in hand). It sounds like you may need to explore this possibility a little further and seek out a formal evaluation if you think it's necessary.

Good luck!
Thanks, Misty! We had testing done last year but it was mainly focused on academics, since that was the *crucial* starting point at the time. Now, I am trying to tease out the "other issues" and I have wondered about AS for this son in particular.

[Orthodox6]

May I "second" Misty's recommendation? The only thing I would add is that although the two often can be comorbid, as she notes, sometimes Asperger's is mistaken for OCD. Also with Asperger's, check for the overlaps with NonVerbal Learning Disorder, just in case.

Our 15-yr old ds with Asperger's and NVLD is happily stable now, after an explosive start to life. He can be a hoot-and-a-half, especially now that he is both mature enough and stable enough to poke fun at himself for his many foibles !

Antonia



I would explore the possibility of Asperger's a little more. I just responded to your other question about your son not noticing your nonverbal cues, interrupting you while you're on the phone, etc. Now I see this one about not getting jokes and also OCD. Two of my daughters have Asperger's and OCD (they often go hand in hand). It sounds like you may need to explore this possibility a little further and seek out a formal evaluation if you think it's necessary.

Good luck!

[Clara in Miami]

My 12yo son had a difficult time with jokes, he loves cartooning he tried to make comic books and they didn't make sense. Since his siblings also love jokes, old comedies etc.. they would explain jokes to him, believe it or not watching I love Lucy and Marx brothers helped quite a bit .

My older children (14,15) would read jokes aloud and if he didn't get it they would explain the play on words and we would get Charlie Brown, Over The Hedge and Calvin & Hobbs etc.. and he would read them through and through..when he didnt get something he would say "this is a joke because... is that right?"
...this has been going on for a couple of years and I can tell you he has become very witty, things still elude him every so often the the improvement has been extraordinary...he makes such funny comic books

actually he is now making new comic book characters that have Aspergers :)

disclaimer: we are not always fond of Calvin & Hobbs, sometimes Calvin I just too much as is Garfield etc...but we oversee their reading and sometimes we just ban them when he gets too obssesive :)

hope this is helpful :)
blessed day
Clara in Miami

[Wyndie]

My son was very much like that - unable to get jokes and read body language. He is 9 (almost 10) and is just now getting both. In fact this weekend he told me he could tell two of my friends love each other. I asked him how he knew and he said b/c of the way they touched each other and looked at each other. First time ever he's picked up on non-verbal communication. Sometimes it takes them a little longer when they have other challenges.