Autism

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to register today!

Click here to register today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Shaked, M.
Right arrow Articles by Yirmiya, N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Shaked, M.
Right arrow Articles by Yirmiya, N.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Autism, Vol. 10, No. 2, 173-187 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1362361306062023
© 2006 The National Autistic Society, SAGE Publications

Theory of mind abilities in young siblings of children with autism

Michal Shaked

Ifat Gamliel

Nurit Yirmiya

Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Deficits in theory of mind (ToM), evident in most individuals with autism, have been suggested as a core deficit of autism. ToM difficulties in young siblings of children with autism (SIBS-A) compared to siblings of typically developing children (SIBS-TD) would place the former within the broad phenotype. We examined ToM’s possible associations with measures of language, cognition, and daily living skills. Participants comprised 24 SIBS-A and 24 matched SIBSTD aged 4.6 years. They completed the false belief and the strange stories tasks. We also collected measures of verbal and cognitive ability and daily living skills. Non-significant differences emerged between the groups on both ToM tasks. Differences did emerge in within-group associations between ToM ability and receptive language. The conclusion is that SIBS-A show resilience in ToM abilities. Possibly, these deficits are not genetically transferred to siblings, at least as measured in laboratory-based ToM tasks.

Key Words: autism • broad phenotype • cognition • daily living skills • language • siblings • theory of mind


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?