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Given the variety of symptoms and levels of intellectual functioning among individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders, a number

of researchers have theorized about the core underlying problem within the disorders. Three, perhaps related, theories have received

the most attention:

1.

Frith (1989) suggests that autistic individuals lack the ability to simultaneously integrate the multiple language, social and

emotional messages typically present in social situations. Something about their neurological functioning makes it difficult to

assimilate and organize all the pertinent information. Since most social situations have multiple levels of sensory input, autistic

individuals do not always fully grasp what is happening or how to respond. Instead, they may attend to and process only a

fragment of the social experience, resulting in repetitive and atypical social behavior.

2.

Baron-Cohen (1995) suggests that the core problem is the inability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others, a

process termed “theory of mind.” Thus, autistic individuals have difficulty taking other people’s perspectives.

3.

Hobson (1996) suggests that autism involves the inability to perceive and understand emotional expressions. This would

then lead to difficulties in perspective taking and subsequent problems in social interaction.

These three theories can be considered complementary. Both Baron-Cohen and Hobson’s theories suggest that autistic individuals

cannot easily empathize with or understand another person’s view of the world. Frith’s theory helps explain why. The inability to

simultaneously integrate information about what is happening in a social situation makes it difficult to imagine what others might be

thinking and feeling. To take another’s perspective, one has to synthesize information about the other person (e.g., the person’s recent

past experiences and preferences), along with what is happening to the person.

Most social skills rely on the ability to mentally adopt another person’s perspective. For example, knowing why to say hello when

you greet someone is based on understanding how others might think or feel if you ignore them rather than greet them. Knowing

when to stop talking, take turns, respond to others’ initiations, compromise, help others, or share, all come naturally when a person

can easily take another’s perspective. However, these social skills do not come naturally to autistic individuals, and must be taught

explicitly if they are going to be mastered. The Social Skills Pictures that follow attempt to do just that—break down social skills into

their components and make explicit what to do and say in social situations, and why.

The Importance of Visual Aids in Teaching Those with Autism Spectrum Disorders

As described earlier, autistic individuals often have language processing difficulties including: (a) for classically autistic individuals,

difficulties comprehending language, (b) for high-functioning individuals, difficulties with abstract language, and (c) for many autistic

individuals, difficulty attending to verbal explanations when there is competing visual and auditory information. Visual aids can often

facilitate both attention and language comprehension.