Cognitive and Affective Aspects of Theory of Mind in Greek-Speaking Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Peristeri et al. (2021) tested Theory of Mind in Greek-speaking children with autism. They compared the kids to matched peers without autism.

The team looked at both cognitive ToM (knowing others’ thoughts) and affective ToM (knowing others’ feelings). They used Greek language tasks and storybooks.

Children with autism scored lower on both kinds of ToM tasks. The gaps showed up even when kids had similar language and IQ levels.

The study found the same pattern seen in English, Spanish, and other languages: autism plus monolingual Greek equals ToM delays.

At first glance this clashes with Peristeri et al. (2021) on bilingual autism. That paper found bilingual kids with autism beat monolingual peers on false-belief tasks. The twist: the Greek sample was mostly monolingual, so the “deficit” is really a monolingual deficit, not an autism-only one.

Peristeri et al. (2024) followed bilingual kids longitudinally and saw the same boost over time. Together the three papers show language experience, not just autism status, shapes ToM scores.

Storch et al. (2012) add that teens who pass second-order false-belief tasks have fewer real-world social problems. Targeting advanced perspective-taking may turn the documented deficit into a teachable skill.

Before you write “ToM delay” in a report, ask about language history. A bilingual child may outperform monolingual norms, so compare apples to apples. For monolingual Greek kids (or any single-language group) use the local norms from this paper. When you plan social-skills goals, fold in second-order belief lessons; the evidence says they link to better playground behavior.