Reading the mental states of others! Many children on the spectrum are so literal, that they rarely “think” about how other’s are thinking or feeling. They do not look past the spoken words to read the perspectives and intentions of those speaking the words. What they see and hear is all there is. They often do not consider what other people are thinking and feeling. To effectively relate with others, we have to look past the spoken words and “think” about how others are “thinking.” Next, based on this appraisal we (1) predict what the person will do, and (2) pattern how we will respond. Ongoing interaction consist of continually “thinking” about how the other is “thinking”, predicting his behavior and then patterning our behavior based on this assessment. This ongoing appraising is essential for staying coordinated with others in interaction. Since children on the spectrum do not “think” about how others are thinking (or are weak at doing so) they are not using this information add meaning to what others are saying and doing. They are reacting to what others do literally (say and do), rather than appraising, predicting, and projecting on what “will happen” in the interaction. Teaching the child to look past the literal: 1. First start with “thinking” about how others are thinking. Think out loud to model this thinking process for the child. Later on, this process can extend to thinking about how others are “feeling” as well as “thinking”; connecting how the person may be feeling based on what he is thinking. “I bet Johnny is sad because he thinks that Jenny doesn’t like him.” Many children do not make the connection between their thoughts and feelings. However, this comes later when the child has good knowledge and language base for identifying and labeling emotions. Unless the child has gained that knowledge, only start with what the other is “thinking.” 2. During the day, together watch what others are doing and talk about what is literal (what you see and hear happening); then talk about what the people are “thinking”. Help the child learn to “look at” the body language and facial expressions, and what is going on in the situation, that helps us determine what the person is “thinking.” Do it together, mentoring how you do it. Then talk about what evidence lead you to the guess (body language, facial expression, situational factors, etc.). Practice “watch, listen, think (about what they are thinking), and then predict (how they will respond).” Use this “watch, listen, think, predict” model for practicing together. 3. There are numerous ways of practicing this. Go to the mall or park and watch others interacting. First list what you see and hear (literal), then what are they thinking. From this assessment predict how they will act based on what they are thinking. You can also do this while watching TV or movies, and also while reading stories together. Use picture books so you can discuss how the characters are “thinking” and use this information to predict how they might respond. 4. Keep it simple at first. Just focus on what the person is thinking. Once they get used to that, then you can move onto what the person is feeling. From there then you can start guessing at what the person’s perspectives and intentions are. The final goal, over the long term, is for the child to “think” about the other person’s “thoughts, feelings, perspectives, and intentions”, and use this appraisal to (1) predict what the person will do, and (2) pattern how they will respond. This process will take years to develop, but each step in that direction is valuable. 5. When making these appraisals, make sure to discuss what evidence they are using to make the guess (facial expressions, body language, actions, situational factors, etc.) This way, when in doubt, they will have a few tools to use to make an appraisal. 6. As the child gets older and more skillful, the appraisals can also include how others think and feel about you and your behavior. “Jim, when you let Johnny borrow your toy truck, how do you think that made him feel.” “Jess, what do you think Tommy was feeling (or thinking) when you took his ball?” This way they can get better at monitoring how others are responding to their actions. This requires more abstract reasoning and can only be mastered after first learning to appraise the perspective of others. Make sure to have fun doing this. Get used to “thinking out loud”, as you evaluate social situations during the day. The “thinking out loud” strategies can be used to teach the child that people have different thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. For more information and strategies for teaching “perspective taking” refer to Michelle Garcia Winner’s books and website, socialthinking . This series on social challenges can be found in the blue book, Autism Discussion Page on the Core Challenges in Autism.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 13:40:26 +0000
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