A clinical assessment tool for advanced theory of mind performance in 5 to 12 year olds.

Lancioni et al. (2009) gave Happé's strange stories to kids without disabilities. They wanted age norms for advanced theory-of-mind skills.

The sample covered ages five to twelve. No one had autism in this norm group.

Scores went up with age. Boys and girls did the same.

The tables let you see if a school-age client with ASD is ahead or behind their peers.

Patton et al. (2020) later used the same task with adults who have sub-clinical autistic traits. They found older adults scored lower, showing the tool can track age change across the life span.

Day et al. (2021) asked adults to fill out BAP surveys instead of story tasks. They saw traits drop with age, which seems opposite to Patton et al. (2020). The gap is about method: self-rating vs. live story test.

Baghdadli et al. (2012) tracked real kids with ASD for ten years. Early language and low autism severity predicted better adaptive gains. Lancioni et al. (2009) now gives you a quick ToM checkpoint to add to those early predictors.

You now have a five-minute story set with solid norms. Use it to show parents and teachers where a verbal client with ASD stands. Pair the score with language and adaptive data to plan social-skills goals that fit the child's true level, not just their age.