Theory of Mind (ToM) is a critical aspect of social cognition and undergoes significant developmental changes from infancy to adulthood. This development follows a trajectory marked by key milestones, with notable differences between autistic and non-autistic individuals. Infancy and Early Childhood ToM development begins in infancy, where social interaction plays a vital role. Infants depend on caregivers to regulate affective states, which in turn helps in the gradual acqui

Theory of Mind (ToM) has been applied not only to humans and animals but also to Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT. The extent to wh

Art activities have shown to be highly beneficial for autistic individuals (Vrisaba et al. 2021) because art offers a unique medium through which they can convey their thoughts, emotions, and experiences without the need for words (Bernier et al. 2022). Art serves as a powerful medium for individuals to freely express themselves, transcending the limitations of language and societal norms. It provides a nurturing environment for exploration, self-discovery, and the cultivatio

‘Autistic individuals always say what they think / or what they want to say’ There is a common misconception that autistic individuals...

Imitation as a Social Tool in Autism Though the broken mirror hypothesis  predicts that autistic individuals should show severe impairments in understanding and imitating actions, so far the research evidence is inconclusive and some research studies have found no such impairments (e.g., Beelen et al . 2018). In fact, many autistic individuals are excellent mimics, able to take another person’s way of speaking, moving, etc. (Tantam 2009). We can see ‘echolalic behaviours’ in

‘Autistic people don’t do metaphors’ Because of their literal interpretation, autistic children do experience difficulties in understanding figurative language. However, figurative language is a wide concept which means the use of words or phrases that deviate from their literal interpretation to achieve a more complex or powerful effect. It includes, for example: - s imile (a figure of speech that a simile compares  two similar things using ‘like’ or ‘as’): many autistic ch

After examining sensory perception in autism in the first book , the newly released second instalment focuses on communication and language in autism. Communication is a two-way process, and it takes two people to mess up a conversation. Not all the problems are caused by autistic children. Non-autistic people have a lot to learn about the ways autistic individuals use verbal and non-verbal language to communicate. Autistic children do not lack the desire to talk to others bu

Is it a supernatural or natural phenomenon? It depends. For example, if we see ‘telepathy’ as something ‘unscientific’ and ‘not worthy’ of the investigation, we are quick to dismiss it, and all the reports of the cases that might illustrate it are considered ‘anecdotal’ (that cannot be replicated) and unreliable. But what if we look at it as a form of non-verbal communication? We may assume that non-verbal individuals who do not develop understanding of verbal language yet,

There are other types of echolalia that are difficult to explain, for example, involuntary echolalia , when the person blurts out words...

Though echolalia can be non-communicative , in many cases it is used for communication. Parents of autistic children (with echolalia) can decode their child’s utterances. For example, for many years (up until he was in his late teens), Alyosha was echolalic and used set phrases to talk to us. Most of the time it worked because I knew his particular ways to let me know that he was hungry or wanted to watch TV, or to go for a walk. The problem is, however, that for others (neig

If it’s not for communication, what’s the point? As I didn’t know much at the time, I made a mistake thinking that as soon as my son started speaking, everything would be fine. However, though Alyosha did start talking at the age of seven, ‘talking’ is not the word to describe his verbal utterances. My boy echoed words and phrases that he had heard in the past, often irrelevant to the situation, or just ‘talked’ to himself. There seemed to be words which he especially liked,

Which is better for autistic individuals? Although sign language was first developed as a means of communication for the deaf, it has been also used to teach people with developmental disabilities communication skills. With autistic and other developmentally disabled children Makaton sign language is usually used. Sign language is introduced either as an augmentative system to facilitate the development of speech for those who understand verbal language but have problems wit

Autistic people have unique ways of communicating and interacting that are rooted in their unique ways of thinking and experiencing the world. While there is much variation between autistic individuals, the following guidelines are a few good things to consider when communicating with autistic people. - Distance : Many autistic people are hypertactile and may be afraid that people who get too close might touch them, or they may simply feel uncomfortable with the nearness of

Some individuals with ASD (especially those with high-functioning autism and Asperger syndrome) possess well-developed spoken language, with good vocabulary and perfect grammar. However, they still have difficulties with pragmatics (using language for communication) and non-verbal communication. Let us consider some other common problems experienced by ‘fluent speakers’: Receptive language Autistic people may have problems with comprehension because of processing problems. Th

To speak (another language) or not to speak (with an autistic child)? Typically developing children in multilingual families tend to pick up languages of their parents quite easily. In contrast to parents of typical multilingual families, parents of a child with ASD often express concerns that a bilingual environment would cause language delay and confusion for their child. This is particularly common for parents of non-verbal and minimally verbal children. Some professionals

Not much is known about the language trajectories of non-verbal and minimally verbal children yet. However, the number of research studies are growing. Quite a few research studies have attempted to identify reliable predictors of good language outcomes. For example: Predictors of language development in non-verbal and minimally verbal children Saul and Norbury (2020) followed the expressive language progress of 27 minimally verbal children, aged three to five, for a year. At

Why can’t my child speak? It was estimated that about one third (Bryson 1996) to one half (Lord & Paul 1997) of autistic people never develop any functional speech: they are functionally mute. More recent research estimates of the proportion of children with ASD who have been classified as minimally verbal vary from 25% to 35%. What is it like not being able to talk? People who have never experienced this will go through life never knowing how soul crushing the condition of w

At the age of about four months the baby starts babbling and producing different sounds. Vocalisations Interestingly, during the first six month s infants with ASD show a similar to typically developing infants’ rate of vocalizations, the pattern of face-gazing accompanied by vocalizations (Young et al . 2009) and typical behaviour in social-vocal patterns (Chericoni et al . 2016). (At this age, the first signs could be looked for in other areas, such as, for example, motor

We assume that language is necessary verbal (i.e., comprising of words). That is why we say that children are verbal if they can talk (no matter that their verbal output is just a combination of echolalic phrases) and that they are non-verbal if they cannot produce verbal utterances. As the original experience of the world of autistic children is sensory-based, their original internal language (as a tool of formulation and expressing thoughts) consists of sensory-perceptual (

At about the same age all typically developing children, no matter what culture they are born into, manifest similar patterns of speech and language acquisition. In autism, however, there is no clear and rigid pattern during the first year, whereas in later years there appears a pattern typical for autistic children’s development (Saint-Georges et al. 2010). Crying as a ‘language’ Vocalization and babbling can be considered the earliest expression of language development (Che