Asperger through the looking glass: an exploratory study of self-understanding in people with Asperger's syndrome.
Clients with Asperger’s may show measurable deficits in reflective self-awareness—consider explicit self-concept targets when social-cognitive goals are relevant.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Jackson et al. (2012) asked adults with Asperger’s syndrome to talk about themselves.
They used two simple ideas: “me as an object” (facts like age, job) and “me as a subject” (feelings, goals).
A control group without autism did the same interview so the team could compare answers.
What they found
The Asperger group gave shorter, flatter answers.
They scored lower on both self-facts and self-feelings, backing the idea that self-reflection is weak in autism.
How this fits with other research
Williamson et al. (2008) saw the same drop in self-ratings among teens with Asperger’s.
Cashon et al. (2013) moved the question into the brain and found weaker activation in self-think areas, so the behavior gap has a neural twin.
Hall (2010) review ties it all together: social-communication limits shrink life stories and self-reference effects, even when memory for actions stays intact.
Why it matters
If a client can’t paint a rich picture of self, social goals may stall.
Add brief self-concept checks to your intake: ask for likes, dislikes, hopes.
Use visual prompts or video feedback to give them more raw material for “who I am.”
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Hobson (Autism and the development of mind. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hove, UK 1993) has proposed that the cognitive and linguistic disabilities that characterise autism result from abnormalities in inter-subjective engagement during infancy, which in turn results in impaired reflective self-awareness. The aim of the present study was to test Hobson's hypothesis by examining self-understanding in Asperger's syndrome (AS) using Damon and Hart's (Self-understanding in childhood and adolescence. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1988) model of self-concept. Ten participants with Asperger's syndrome were compared with ten non AS controls using the Self-understanding Interview (Damon and Hart in Self-understanding in Childhood and Adolescence. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1988). The study found that the Asperger's group demonstrated impairment in the "self-as-object" and "self-as-subject" domains of the Self-understanding Interview, which supported Hobson's concept of an impaired capacity for self-awareness and self-reflection in people with ASD. The results are discussed with reference to previous research regarding the development of self-understanding in people with ASD.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2012 · doi:10.1007/s10803-011-1296-8