Theory of Mind in Children with Asperger's Syndrome and Learning Disabilities
I
strongly believe in the Theory of Mind. It is the
capacity we have to understand mental states such as: beliefs, feelings,
desires, hope and intentions. It's the way we imagine other people's feelings or thoughts. We can create and
predict based on these feelings we have about others. For people on the autism
spectrum, this is very difficult and it takes years beyond that of the normal
child to develop, if it ever does.
One of my
favorite personal short stories that I wrote about my son Doug deals with the
first time I recognized his use of the Theory of Mind. The title of the story
is "The Rainbow's Treasure." Doug was in his early twenties. We'd just returned
from an important job interview that he was reluctant to attend because it was
a rainy day.
When we got
home, the sun was beginning to signal a change in the sky. "I'm going to the
club, mom," said Doug as he grabbed his bag and was out of the house to the
athletic club. "I'll lock the door."
About one minute
later the doorbell rang. It was Doug.
"I want you to
see this rainbow WITH me, Mom. Isn't it beautiful?"
In Doug's smile,
I saw the treasures of the rainbow. This was the first time he had ever allowed
himself to totally come into my world by projecting how I might feel.
"That's good,
Mom. Isn't it?" he said as he pointed to the double arches of mixed colors that
radiated the afternoon sky.
"Ah, yes, Doug.
That's very good."
This
blog is based on the following presentation from the ASHA 2011 Convention:
Lynn
Adams, PhD, CCC-SLP
Associate
Professor
Valdosta State University, Valdosta,
GA
Lynn.adams.phd@gmail.com
Dr.
Adams and Kathie at ASHA
The title of Dr. Lynn Adams'
poster session at ASHA caught my attention, as did her smile. "Theory of Mind
in Children with Aspergers Syndrome and Learning Disabilities" -- she had me at hello. We visited about her presentation and as you can see, my
Humpty Dumpty and she became fast friends as well.
Strategies for Intervention
from Dr. Lynn Adams
- Thinking out loud
Taking the
listener perspective
- Bridging
Switching topics
- Barrier activities
Clarifying
questions
- Word finding
Associative
cueing
There were several conclusions of
this study. One of the most interesting concerning students with ASD was that
none of the ASD students were able to verbally express their thinking
strategies to another person. Dr. Adams predicted that metacognitive skills depend
heavily on language. Without metacognitive skills, students demonstrate
difficulty in reading and writing and they tend to violate conversational
rules.
I like that term "conversational rules."
It is the rules that other people make
for the conversation, not just the rules made up by the person with ASD. The
SLP must remind, remember, recall, reprogram, redirect and keep the
conversation on a roll.
"Speech pathologists make good things
happen."