One of my (often irritating for those around me) characteristics is, I want to understand anything and everything I encounter in my life. Sometimes it took just a few minutes or a couple of hours to find the explanation to whatever it was that I was puzzled with at the time, but other times it might take days, weeks, months or even years. So since my son’s diagnosis autism has become my obsession. I needed answers to hundreds of questions, explanations of what (and why) is going on. Bullet-points books (‘do this’/don’t do this’) are never good enough: if I don’t know WHY I have to do (or not to do) something, how can I implement this or that strategy to my son. It is only logical to look for clues in the theories attempting to account for autism.

I remember the first time I read about the lack of Theory of Mind in autism in the paper by Baron-Cohen, Leslie and Frith, published in 1985. My reaction to the article was ‘yes, but…’, with the conclusion that the whole concept was one-sided.

1.

Theory of Mind (ToM) is defined as the ability to perceive the mental states of others; in other words, if autistic individuals lack ToM it means they don’t understand what other people are thinking, feeling, intending to do, etc.; in extreme cases (the originators of ToM claim) autistic children may have no concept of mind at all. New terms have been coined that have spread rapidly in the field – ‘mind-blindness’ and ‘mind-reading’. This theory seemed to explain a lot in ‘autistic’ behaviours.

Yes, but…

Yes, autistic children lack ToM and are ‘mind-blind’ to the thoughts, feelings and intentions of those around them. Non-autistic people’s behaviours become unpredictable and confusing to an individual with autism. But, are non-autistic people ‘mind-sighted’ when they deal with persons with autism? Do they easily recognise feelings and intentions of individuals with autism? Considering that autistic and non-autistic people do not share perceptual experiences due to differences in perceptual and cognitive functioning, don’t non-autistic people find difficult to take autistic individuals’ perspectives? If autistic people lack Theory of Mind, then non-autistic individuals are sure to have deficits in the ability to understand the Theory of Autistic Mind. If we could remove one-sidedness from our interpretation of ‘mind-blindness’, we would see how limited we all are in our ability to ‘mind-read’.

2.

This ability is said to develop by the by the age of four.

Yes, but…

Yes, babies are not born with a ‘ready-made’ Theory of Mind. They develop it usually by the age of four. (As their thought-processes are similar to those around them and develop in accordance with ‘normal lines of development’, they soon become very successful in ‘reading minds’.)

But: is the development of ToM spontaneous and independent from other variables (such as, e.g., differences in sensory experiences)?

For example, when I attempted to hug my little boy (expressing affection and happiness) [Picture 1],  instead of feeling happy and loved (thus developing a ‘normal ToM’), my boy burst in tears because he couldn’t tolerate being touched. Would he learn that mummy’s smile and embrace mean ‘affection’?

 Picture 1

Or take another example, when Mother sends her son to his room if he misbehaves, would the boy who was overloaded with noise and movements of people around him) and who suddenly finds himself in the safety of his quiet room learn that it was supposed to be ‘punishment’? (Picture 2)

  Picture 2

Autistic individuals may learn to ‘read (non-autistic) minds’ later on in life, and using qualitatively different cognitive strategies and mechanisms. As a result, they are not quite successful in applying this theory in every-day life, with rapidly changing social situations, where they have to analyse each change as it comes. (However, they are very skillful in ToAM.)

3.

Numerous tests have been developed (the most famous one being ‘Sally and Ann test’) that show that, unlike normally developing children and children with other developmental disabilities, autistic individuals cannot understand and predict actions of others.

Yes, but…

Yes, ‘Sally & Ann’ and other tests are widely used with autistic individuals (to prove they are ‘mind-blind’?)

But why are there no tests to check our ‘autistic mind-sight’? [See an example of a possible test in Bogdashina 2005, pp.129-30.]

         4.

The ‘lack of ToM theory’ is very useful when applied to practical work with autistic people

Yes, but…

Yes, it gives professionals and parents explanations of what otherwise have been seen as idiosyncratic behaviours, and provides ideas on how to address these problems. So-called lack of ToM in autistic children implies a different interpretation of ‘rudeness’ and ‘deliberate stubbornness’, as well as suggests the necessity to explain explicitly our intentions and emotions.

But isn’t it time we learn Theory of Autistic Minds that help us understand our children better? Besides, ToM as a theoretical construct, may be very useful not only when dealing with autistic and non-autistic populations, but also with different groups of people closely involved personally or professionally. Do professionals working with autistic children (and coming home free from autism) understand emotions and behaviours of the parents living with autism 24/7? Or: Do parents who want the best for their autistic child understand professionals who have hundreds of autistic children in their files and limited resources? The answer to both questions is ‘No’. It means the professionals lack Theory of Parents’ Mind, while parents lack Theory of Professionals’ Mind. The logical solution would be to learn these different Theories of Mind and find the way to work together in order to create the world which would be comfortable to everyone concerned.

Bogdashina, O. (2005) Theory of Mind and the Triad of Perspectives on Autism and Asperger Syndrome. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Written by Olga Bogdashina, on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services