The relationship between visual metaphor comprehension and recognition of similarities in children with learning disabilities

Previous studies have shown metaphoric comprehension deficits in children with learning
disabilities. To understand metaphoric language, children must have enough semantic
knowledge about the metaphorical terms and the ability to recognize similarity between
two different domains. In the current study visual and verbal metaphor understanding
was assessed in 20 children with learning disabilities (LD) and 20 typically developed (TD)
children. Results showed that LD children scored significantly lower than TD children in
the comprehension of conventional metaphors, and idioms. However, visual and novel
metaphor comprehension, which does not rely on prior knowledge, did not differ between
the two groups. Furthermore, our results suggest that higher analogical thinking facilitates
visual metaphor comprehension in the LD group. In the TD group, metaphor
comprehension correlates with higher semantic knowledge.