Children with autism experience problems with both objects and people.
Autism involves object-use problems as well as social ones—target both domains in intervention plans.
01Research in Context
What this study did
McMillan et al. (1999) wrote a theory paper. They asked: Do kids with autism have trouble only with people, or also with objects?
The authors reviewed past work. They argued autism hurts two tracks at once: social bonding and everyday object use. Each track feeds the other.
What they found
The paper claims both domains break together. A child who cannot read a toy's 'affordances' also misses social cues. Fix one side and you help the other.
How this fits with other research
McCarron et al. (2002) tested the idea. They taught autistic children to read cartoon thought-bubbles. The kids then passed false-belief tasks. A simple object-based visual lifted social insight—direct support.
Ibrahim et al. (2021) ran an RCT. Social-cognitive groups boosted medial prefrontal activity and real-life social skill. Again, training the social-cognitive link paid off.
McAuliffe et al. (2017) added parent voices. After the PEERS program, teens showed gains in emotion control, leadership, and daily living. Social lessons spilled into object-filled life skills.
Why it matters
Stop splitting your goals. When you write an intervention plan, pair social targets with object-use targets. Teach turn-taking while building a Lego set. Ask for eye contact while passing utensils. One session can feed both tracks.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Kanner (1943), in his classic account, described autism as a specific impairment in interpersonal relations which leaves the child's uses of objects relatively unaffected. This combination of the difficulties in relating to people and the supposedly "excellent" relations to objects figures centrally within many of the current theories of autism, which have had relatively little to say on the question of object use. This paper draws attention to evidence of widespread impairments in relating to objects, not only in interpersonal aspects of object use but also in early sensorimotor exploration and the functional and conventional uses of objects. In stressing these problems with objects, our purpose is not to downplay the social dimension of autism, but rather to highlight the reciprocal nature of the interactions between the child, other people, and objects. Given the evidence that other people play an important role in introducing objects to children, we propose that an impairment in interpersonal relations should itself lead us to expect corresponding disruption in the autistic child's use of objects. Conversely, an unusual use of objects is likely to manifest itself in disturbances in relating to other people, given the importance of a shared understanding and use of objects in facilitating interaction.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 1999 · doi:10.1023/a:1023026810619