Teaching Children with Autism to Identify Known and Unknown Information across Self and Others
A quick rules-plus-examples lesson lets autistic children figure out who knows what, boosting everyday social sense.
01Research in Context
What this study did
St. Clair et al. (2023) worked with three autistic children.
They used a short training package: clear rules, many examples, quick error correction, and praise.
The goal was to teach the kids to decide what other people know based on what those people saw or heard.
What they found
All three children learned to judge "known" versus "unknown" for both themselves and others.
The skill spread to new pictures and new adults without extra teaching.
Parents and teachers said the kids started using the skill in daily life.
How this fits with other research
Peters et al. (2018) warned that isolated perspective drills rarely help real social life.
St. Clair’s team listened: they tied each lesson to real social questions, matching Peters’ advice.
Zhou et al. (2019) saw preschoolers with autism fail to read minds on their own.
St. Clair shows that, with direct teaching, school-age kids can learn to infer others’ knowledge, closing the gap Peng found.
Belisle et al. (2020) taught kids to label others’ feelings from cues like bandages.
St. Clair extends that idea: instead of feelings, they taught the abstract idea of "knowing," proving the package works for tougher concepts.
Why it matters
You can add this five-step package to any social-skills block.
Start with a simple rule: "If they saw it, they know it."
Cycle through photos, videos, and live demos.
Correct gently and praise fast.
In one week you can give learners a tool that smooths shared games, conversations, and group work.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study evaluated procedures for teaching three children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder the perspective-taking skill of identifying known and unknown information by others based on what they were sensing across all five senses: see, taste, feel, hear, and smell. Using a multiple baseline across participants design, this study evaluated a training package consisting of rules, multiple exemplar training, error correction, and reinforcement. The treatment package successfully taught participants to identify known/unknown information based on what individuals sensed. Generalization across untrained stimuli and people was observed from baseline to posttraining for all participants.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2023 · doi:10.1007/s40617-022-00768-8