Might we be Calling Problems Seen in Autism Spectrum Conditions: ‘Poor Theory of Mind,’ when Actually they are Related to Non-Generalised ‘Object Permanence’?

Wenn B. Lawson; Brynn A. Dombroski

doi:10.6000/2292-2598.2015.03.01.6

Authors

Wenn B. Lawson Department of Disability University of Birmingham, UK
Brynn A. Dombroski Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6000/2292-2598.2015.03.01.6

Keywords:

Autism Spectrum Conditions, Theory of Mind, Object Permanence, Challenging Behaviour.

Abstract

Autism spectrum conditions (ASC) and the delayed development of object permanence is often not questioned, and is rarely understood. The following paper attempts to explore this idea and suggests reasons for why such development is delayed and the possibility that certain difficult behaviours seen in children with ASC are less likely to be connected to having poor theory of mind and more connected to lacking generalized concepts of object permanence.

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