Bambini con autismo ad alto funzionamento: cosa aspettarsi in un test di comprensione di metafore? Studio di casi con il TCM junior

The article focuses on the problematic of metaphor comprehension in autistic children, and illustrates some cases of high-functioning subjects tested with a specific test of metaphor comprehension, validated for Italian younger typically developing children, the junior Test of Metaphor Comprehension (junior TCM). Results show both delays with respect to the typically developing children, and idiosyncratic behaviors in processing metaphors, suggesting that figurative language poses specific semantic processing problems to this type of clinical population.