Are you an autist?

Red spots are appearing in his neck and on his jaws while he walks towards the blackboard. It is evident his hands are shaking - only just a little, but noticeable still. His eyes are flashing left and right across the classroom. He doesn't want to be there. He doesn't like this. At all. He'd rather take a run and leave through the door which is just a little ajar so fresh air can slip in on this warm, moist day. Sweat marks are under his armpits, leaving dark spots on his red T-shirt. Then he starts talking. The tremble in his voice when he speaks aloud. A little stutter. You know exactly what he feels. The tension. The anxiety. The uneasiness. Even though you are just sitting here. Even though you are only watching. Even though you should feel calm and relaxed. Still you can imagine what is going through his mind.

You find her sitting on a far off bench in the semidark park. Dark smudges of mascara mark her attempts to dry the tears slipping from her eyes. Hopelessly she looks up when she hears you approaching. Despair. Like the world has fallen apart. Well, her world has fallen apart, that is for sure. You seat yourself beside her and she starts crying again. You give her your shoulder. No words are needed. You know what she is feeling. You know what it feels like to break up. You know what emotions she is going through. You know what is going through her mind.

When Ann met Sally

Even without saying you know what the other is feeling. You only need to look at his face, you only have to watch her behave. It goes for your best friend, for your parent, but you can recognize it in a stranger as well. It is a mechanism which aids us to be empathic for someone. It is what we call having a Theory of Mind.

The Theory of Mind is a phenomenon frequently studied. One major part of it is the ability to understand other people's ideas about the world can be different than yours. This ability isn't present from the day you were born, but starts to develop during your early childhood. A way to investigate whether you are able to understand this, that is, whether you can attribute false belief, the Sally-Ann task is used (left).

Where will Sally look for her ball?

A child of age 4 or below would answer Sally'd look in the box, because well, that's where the ball is, isn't it? Before the age (4-5 years) you start to develop the understanding of false beliefs, you would not understand Sally would be oblivious of Ann's nasty trick and therefore assume she must know as much as Ann knows.

Children of age 2 or 3 are often seen playing by themselves, in something called parallel play. It occurs when children are in the same room, but play alone, believing their toy is their own. Eventually the child learns to play with others, learn to share, and become aware of others' emotions.

Anyway, the Sally-Ann task. Did you guess it correctly? Yes? No?

If not, you might be an autist. 

Okay. Oops. I shouldn't just have said that. Forgive me, please.

Ann's always nasty

However, truth is, many people with the Autism Spectrum Disorder have problems with false beliefs and the Theory of Mind in general. People with autism have a limited ability to understand others' feelings and thoughts. 

This deficit may explain one of the main symptoms of the disorder. Often you see difficulties with social interaction, such as not being able to built relationships with peers and not making eye contact. Another symptom is the lack of imaginative play, thus being able to pretend you are someone else.

One theory to be grateful of

Anyway, it becomes clear Theory of Mind is an essential tool when it comes to social interaction. Without it there would be no imaginative play, no playing mum-and-dad, no pretending you are a Dragon Ball Z warrior (as I did when I was younger), no appropriate nodding of a friend when you are in tears.

And don't we all need a little reassurance once in a while.