According to the theory-theory account of understanding other minds, children develop a succession of theories of mind that, just like scientific theories, postulate abstract coherent mental entities and laws, and provide predictions, interpretations and explanations. These, in turn, enable them to interact successfully with other people. Individuals with autism or Asperger’s syndrome are said to be unable to theorize about other minds, resulting in difficulties in relating to the people around them. This paper explores the possibility that we can reconceptualize the assumed relationship from the other direction, proposing that it is misleading to construe the task of achieving social understanding as a logical, scientific one. Rather, it will be suggested that typical children do not have to theorize that there are minds as they can immediately experience other people’s intentions and feelings within their affective, co-regulated interactions with them. High-functioning individuals with autism, on the other hand, do need to engage in theorizing about mind if they are to bridge the gap that exists between themselves and other people. In support of this argument, this paper presents findings from an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) of ten published autobiographical accounts written by individuals diagnosed with either high-functioning autism or Asperger’s syndrome.
Adrien, J.L. , Faure, M. , Perrot, A. , Hameury, L. , Garreau, B. , Barthelemy, C. , & Sauvage, D. (1991). Autism and family home movies: Preliminary findings . Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 21, 43–49 .
2.
Adrien, J.L. , Perrot, A. , Sauvage, D. , Leddet, I. , Larmande, C. , Hameury, L. , & Barthelemy, C. (1992). Early symptoms in Autism from family home movies: Evaluation and comparison between 1st and 2nd year of life using I.B.S.E. scale . Acta Paedopsychiatrica, 55, 71–75 .
3.
American Psychiatric Association . (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author .
4.
Asperger, H. (1991). Autistic psychopathology in childhood. In U. Frith (Ed.), Autism and Asperger syndrome (pp. 37–92). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press . (Original work published in 1944: Die ‘Autistischen psychopathen’ im kindesalter. Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, 117, 76–136.)
5.
Astington, J.W. , & Gopnik, A. (1991). Theoretical explanations of children’s understanding of the mind . British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9, 7–31 .
6.
Baron-Cohen, S. (1995). Mindblindness:An essay on autism and theory of mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .
7.
Baron-Cohen, S. (2000). Theory of mind and autism: A fifteen-year review. In S. Baron-Cohen , H. Tager-Flusberg , & D.J. Cohen (Eds.), Understanding other minds: Perspectives from developmental cognitive neuroscience (2nd ed., pp. 3–20). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .
8.
Baron-Cohen, S. (2002). Is Asperger syndrome necessarily viewed as a disability?Focus on Autism and other Developmental Disorders, 17, 186–191 .
9.
Baron-Cohen, S. , Leslie, A.M. , & Frith, U. (1985). Does the autistic child have a ‘theory of mind’?Cognition, 21, 37–46 .
10.
Bernabei, P. , Camaioni, L. , & Levi, G. (1998). An evaluation of early development in children with autism and pervasive developmental disorders from home movies: Preliminary findings . Autism, 2, 243–258 .
11.
Dawson, G. , Meltzoff, A.N , Osterling, J. , Rinaldi, J. , & Brown, E. (1998). Children with autism fail to orient to naturally occurring social stimuli . Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 28, 479–485 .
12.
DiLavore, P.C. , Lord, C. , & Rutter, M. (1995). Pre-linguistic Autism Diagnostic Schedule . Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 25, 355–379 .
13.
Dreyfus, H.L. , & Dreyfus, S.E. (1991). The mistaken psychological assumptions underlying belief in expert systems. In A. Still & A. Costall (Eds.), Against cognitvism:Alternative foundations for cognitive psychology (pp. 17–31). New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf .
14.
Frith, U. , & Happé, F. (1999). Theory of mind and self-consciousness: What is it like to be autistic?Mind and Language, 14, 1–22 .
15.
Gopnik, A. (1999). Theory of mind. In R.A. Wilson & F.C. Keil (Eds.), MIT encyclopedia of the cognitive sciences (pp. 830–841). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .
16.
Gopnik, A. , Capps, L. , & Meltzoff, A.N. (2000). Early theories of mind: What the theory theory can tell us about autism. In S. Baron-Cohen , H. Tager-Flusberg , & D.J. Cohen (Eds.), Understanding other minds: Perspectives from developmental cognitive neuroscience (2nd ed., pp. 21–35). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .
17.
Gopnik, A. , & Wellman, H.M. (1992). Why the child’s theory of mind really is a theory . Mind and Language, 7, 145–171 .
18.
Grandin, T. (1996). Thinking in pictures: And other reports from my life with autism. New York: Vintage .
19.
Happé, F. (1999). Understanding assets and deficits in autism: Why success is more interesting than failure . Psychologist, 12, 540–546 .
20.
Holliday Willey, L. (1999). Pretending to be normal: Living with Asperger’s syndrome. London: Jessica Kingsley .
21.
Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact . Nervous Child, 2, 217–250 .
22.
Lawson, W. (2001). Life behind glass:A personal account of Autism Spectrum Disorder. London: Jessica Kingsley .
23.
Leslie, A. (1987). Pretence and representation in infancy: Origins of ‘theory of mind’ . Psychological Review, 94, 84–106 .
24.
Leslie, A. (2000). Theory of Mind. In A.E. Kazdin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychology (Vol. 8, pp. 60–61). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association ; New York: Oxford University Press .
25.
Mars, A.E. , Mauk, J.E. & Dowrick, P. (1998). Symptoms of pervasive developmental disorders as observed in pre-diagnostic home videos of infants and toddlers . Journal of Paediatrics, 132, 500–504 .
26.
McKlean, T. (1994). Soon will come the light: A view from inside the autism puzzle (2nd ed.). Arlington, TX: Future Horizons .
27.
Osterling, J. , & Dawson, G. (1994). Early recognition of children with autism: A study of first birthday home videotapes . Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24, 247–257 .
28.
Perner, J. (1991). Understanding the representational mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .
29.
Premack, D. , & Woodruff, G. (1978). Does the chimpanzee have a ‘theory of mind’?Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 4, 515–526 .
30.
Prince-Hughes, D. (2002). Aquamarine Blue 5. Athens, OH: Swallow/Ohio University Press .
31.
Reddy, V. (1996). Omitting the second person in social understanding . Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 19, 140–141 .
32.
Reddy, V. (2003). On being the object of attention: Implications for self–other consciousness . Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7, 397–402 .
33.
Sacks, O. (1995). An anthropologist on Mars. London: Picador .
34.
Schneider, E. (1999). Discovering my autism: Apologia pro vita sua (with apologies to Cardinal Newman). London: Jessica Kingsley .
35.
Shanker, S. (2004). The roots of mindblindness . Theory & Psychology, 14, 685–703 .
36.
Sinclair, J. (1992). Bridging the gaps: An inside view of autism. In E. Schopler & G.B. Mesibov (Eds.), High-functioning individuals with autism (pp. 294–302). New York: Plenum .
37.
Smith, J.A. (1996). Beyond the divide between cognition and discourse: Using interpretative phenomenological analysis in health psychology . Psychology and Health, 11, 261–271 .
38.
Smith, J.A. , Flowers, P. , & Osborn, M. (1997). Interpretative phenomenological analysis and the psychology of health and illness. In L. Yardley (Ed.), Material discourses of health and illness (pp. 68–91). London: Routledge .
39.
Smith, J.A. , Jarman, M. , & Osborn, M. (1999). Doing interpretative phenomenological analysis. In M. Murray & K. Chamberlain (Eds.), Qualitative health psychology: Theories and methods (pp. 218–240). London: Sage .
40.
Sparling, J.W. (1991). A prospective case report of infantile autism from pregnancy to four years . Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 21, 229–236 .
41.
Wellman, H.M. (1990). The child’s theory of mind. Cambridge, MA: Bradford/MIT Press .
42.
Williams, E., & Kendell-Scott, L. (2004). What is it really like to have autism? An interpretative phenomenological analysis of high-functioning individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Unpublished manuscript.
43.
Wing, L. (1981). Language, social and cognitive impairments in autism and severe mental retardation . Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 11, 31–33 .
44.
World Health Organization . (1993). International classification of diseases: Diagnostic criteria for research (10th ed.). Geneva: Author .
