Theory of mind and Autism: intervention strategies to enhance quality of life in adults. Development of a theory of mind and its impairment

Abstract

The concept of Theory of Mind assumes a strong scientific concern for all those experts engaged in the study of autism treatment because many researches have highlighted that people diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder have important difficulties with developing a theory of mind. That regards inferring other's state of mind, desires, preferences, thoughts, beliefs, intentions. The current article begins with an analysis of the concept of theory of mind and of some of the strategies reported in literature, used to teach various aspects of theory of mind and its goal is to extend them to adults population, setting the focus on the needs assessment as essential prerequisite. It is focused on an analysis of techniques and procedures based on the basic principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) that, thanks to the methodological accuracy typical of this science, they are significantly valid in terms of treatment efficacy.

Keywords: theory of mind, autism, adults