Autism

= AUTISM =

Context
Autistic children, when compared with other children of similar mental ages, show a deficiency in pretend play and false belief attribution. An experiment testing false belief attribution of autistic, Down's Syndrom, and cognitively normal children shows that autistic chilren do not normally attribe false belief to others. After many more astonishing tests, researchers have reached several varying conclusions. Some say the autistic mind lacks the Theory of Mind, others argue that the autistic person has what's called Mind Blindness, while yet others claim that autism is simply a skill that is lacking, this is called Skill Theory. These are just some of the many possible options that try to find a solution to a disability that has yet to be fully understood. While the autistic mind struggles with pretend play, social cues, false belief, and so forth, there appears to be many levels to the extremity of the autistic mind and varying degrees of what that person is capable of.



__Theory of Mind__
Theory of Mind is the capacity to attribute mental states to others, thereby making it possible to identify with others and have successful social interactions and relationships.

__Mind Blindness__
This theory states the problem like this: people with Autism lack a theory of their own and others' minds, suffering from what is known as mind blindness. People with mind blindness literally do not understand and acknowledge that anyone has a mind, including themselves. Without a theory of one's own mind, it is impossible to pretend that things are not as they seem; therefore, Autistic children do not spontaneously pretend play as children with normal cognition do. In addition, autistic people in general have a hard time attributing false beliefs to others because they fail to realize that other people have minds. This leads to an inability to understand where other people are coming from; relationships are all but impossible. Without a theory of one's own mind, it is very difficult to imagine, and therefore a whole range of human thought is not an option for autistic people.\

Argument for Mind Blindness
1) there are a certain set of things which are extremely difficult for autistic people to do 2) because it is so exclusively linked to autistic people, there must be one common deficit 3) a lack of a concept of one’s own mind and the minds of others exaplins all of the evidence for autisic people’s inabilities
 * lack of false belief attribution can be explained by a lack of concept of other people’s minds
 * lack of spontaneous pretend play can be explained by a lack of concept of one’s own mind

Objections to Mind Blindness
Theory of Mind is a theory. Autistic people are generally good at using theories while people with Down's Syndrome and other kinds of mental retardation tend not to be as adept in using theories. Yet the experiment shows that children with Down's Syndrom are more able than those with Autism to use Theory of Mind in false belief attribution and also in pretend play.

There is good evidence that autistic people can learn and be prompted to pretend play, indicating that it is a skill to be developed. Likewise, social interactions can be learned.

Responses
Theory of Mind is different from most theories in that it requires cognitive mechanisms and off-line processing.

Pretend play and social interactions are not learned but //faked// for the rewards offered.

**__Skill Theory __**
Skill theory approaches the issue as thus--Theory of Mind is a skill, what's stunted is the skill, not the Theory of Mind. Taking the approach to understanding this issue as something that can be learned and not something that is a permanent defect or mental derangement. While autistic children struggle with pretend play (this asks the question: what would I do, believe, want, and feel were I in so-and-so's situation) Skill Theory argues that this is something that can be learned and taught over time.

Objections to Skill Theory
The Tower of Hanoi: Skill Theory does not account for the lack of self-assessment in completing the Tower of Hanoi test and subsequent lack of improvement. Mind Blindness does account for it.

In an experiment, people with Asperger's Syndrome, an autistic spectrum disorder, were unable to determine what they were thinking at the time that a tone sounded. Mind Blindness can account for this while Skill Theory cannot.