46.

THEORY OF MIND
By Anabel Cornago http://elsonidodelahierbaelcrecer.blogspot.com/ I want to than
k Silviatehan, Ro's mother, Dana and Lucia, blog books recommend http://aulautis
ta.wordpress.com/ In the mind of Marc Monfort Isabelle Monfort and Juárez, now w
e are working with Erik.
We understand the theory of mind as the ability to perceive that other people ha
ve an internal state like the self, yet different from it.
People have the automatic ability to attribute desires, intentions, emotions, st
ates of knowledge or thoughts to others and realize that they are different from
themselves. This entails the representation
internal mental states of others. Our relationship with people in the environmen
t is highly dependent on the Theory of Mind. To understand what others do or say
, we put in place so we can understand what motivates them to take or to act in
a certain way.
However, people with autism have an inability to realize what another person thi
nks or believes. For Frith (1989), children with autistic spectrum "does not dis
tinguish between what is inside your mind and what's inside the mind of others."
When you do not have the
ability to put oneself in another person, the conduct of others are unpredictabl
e, meaningless and difficult to understand. The deficit in theory of mind largel
y explains the difficulties that people with ASD have in the social area.
The consequences of this deficit may be manifested in (from the blog Autism Clas
sroom)
o o o o
or
Difficulty in predicting the behavior of others Difficult to realize the intenti
ons of others and know the real reasons that guide their behaviors Difficulty un
derstanding emotions in others, they will show little empathic reactions to unde
rstand how their difficulties conduct or comments of other people affect and inf
luence what others think of him. By providing any kind of information are diffic
ult to take into account the level of knowledge of the interlocutor on
o o o o
subject matter (which can lead to the interlocutor does not understand well what
it is talking) Difficulty to take into account the degree of interest of the sp
eaker on the topic of conversation difficulty to anticipate what others may thin
k about their behavior. Difficulty lying and deception to understand Difficulty
in understanding social interactions, which can lead to problems when taking tur
ns, following the theme of conversation and maintain appropriate eye contact.
IR BUILDING EXERCISES FOR THEORY OF MIND:
The five senses and their associated verbs
The most elementary form of relating to the environment is through the five sens
es: taste, touch, hearing, smell and sight. So at first
'll provoking situations for the child to become familiar with the senses, the o
rgans that develop and verbs related. The exercises that follow are not aimed at
improving the sensory perception of the child, but is familiar with the use of
verbs associated with each direction. (In the section there are many other senso
ry stimulation exercises to improve the perception) 1. Views: verb = view. Exerc
ise 1: Put on the table before the child three objects (then the number will ris
e.) - "(Name of child), what you see on the table? - I see a ball, a car and a d
oll - Okay, you see a ball, a car and a doll. - "(Name of child), what I see on
the table? - You see a ball, a car and a doll - Okay, I see a ball, a car and a
doll. Shall vary the objects, then some objects can be placed in front of the ch
ild and other objects in front of you. Exercise 2: as above, but with distribute
d objects across the room:
- "(Name of child)," appointing a (then two, three, etc.) Items you see in the r
oom. - "(Name of child), what you see in the room? - Series: I see a table, a la
mp, etc.. And you? - I see xxx. Exercise 3: as above, but with objects on the st
reet, or seen through a window (ie, an ever-increasing distance). Etcetera. 2. S
mell - verb: smell. With different objects that smell, we will practice the verb
"smell" as we did with the verb "see." What smell?, What smells?, Etc. 3. Gusto
-verb: to know. Use sweet, salty, sour, spicy, etc.. and empower the child to us
e the verb to know: what do you know? - The pickle tastes sour, the cake tastes
sweet, spicy curry knows, the meat tastes salty, etc.
4. Ear - verb: hear, hear.€Practices so that sound similar to ejercicicios sight
. We may also use ambient sounds: a car horn, door opening, sound of the refrige
rator, etc. What do you hear? - I hear xxxxx. Later introduce change of tone: hi
gh, low. (Increase or decrease the volume of the music, hit the xylophone with d
ifferent intensity, etc). 5. Touch: verb: to touch, caress. To promote the use o
f these verbs there are many possibilities: - to give an order: "touches the pan
ts of the doll," "touch me face" - to describe what is being done: "I stroke her
hair." - Ask what it is playing, what you play now?, Touch the chair, touch the
water, etc.
Show the existence of different perspectives:
1. Making simple visual perspective: the aim is that the child
understand that different people see different things.
Exercise 1: Ask your child to draw on a sheet of paper a different element on ea
ch side (if he still does not draw well, you do, but that the child see what you
've drawn). For example, a tree on one side of the road and a house on the other
side. Reinforcing say, "Look, on this side of the road there is a tree, and in
this other side, a house, and you teach both sides of the road and repeating the
message. (The child may need more support, so you can write a 1 in the face of
the tree and a 2 on the side of the house) the child and you sat face to face, l
ift the sheet of paper. Each of you will see one side. - "(Name of child), what
do you see in the road? - I see a tree - Okay, you see a tree. - "(Name of child
), what I see on the sheet? - You see a house - Okay, I see a house. You give hi
m a return to the road and repetiréis questions. Then repeat the exercise with o
ther drawings. Exercise 2: You have prepared a sheet of paper with a different d
esign on each side. The child does not know what is drawn. For example, a car an
d a cup. You lift the paper and questions: - "(name of child), what do you see i
n the road? - I see a car - Well, you see a car. - "(Name of child), what do you
see in the road? - I do not know, I can see - Okay, you can not see and you do
not. See how you what I see, I see a cup, look at her. Probably the child will a
ttempt to guess what you see. Erik began to tell objects to see if he could gues
s. In this case, very clearly every time you repeat an object say: "No, you can
not know because you do not see, until the child understands and finish answerin
g" I do not know, I can not see it. " The exercise was repeated with more leaves
with new drawings.
2. Complex visual perspective-taking: A single object can be
different depending on the perspective that what we observe. Likewise if a perso
n looks at it from a place and another person from another may be getting differ
ent views of the
same object. It is important that your child knows this fact since the different
perception of objects (and facts) causes people to have different information a
nd thus different beliefs. The aim is that the child understands not only what a
nother person
looks but also how you see it. Exercise 1
To show the different perspectives of the objects, is an exercise that is to gro
up similar objects viewed from different perspectives. Material: photos of an ob
ject (table) from different perspectives, photos of a child from different persp
ectives, of an animal, etc. The child should group your photos for the same obje
ct. When the child has made clusters an object pass to work. Take a picture and
explain: (child's name), look, here is the child frografiado front, in profile b
ack, face down, etc. Then you move to ask how you see the child in this photo? -
From the front, upside down, etc.
Exercise 2: You need a large sheet of paper under which is a figure that is not
symmetrical: a child or animal, for example. The child and you are sitting face
to face (on a desk or floor). Place the leaf between the two, so that the child
see the picture in normal position and you see it face down. - (Name of child),
what do you see in the picture? - I see a cop - Okay, you see a cop. And how is
the cop, standing or sitting? - The police are standing - Okay, the police are s
tanding. Yes, it is placed on his feet. - (Name of child), and how I see the pol
ice?, Do you see on their feet or see bocaabajo (hanging over her head, turned a
round) - You see the policeman's head, you see bocaabajo - Yes , well, I see the
police face down. (As you may at first the child does not understand the concep
ts of "normal position" and "upside down"€you can practice first with a card goi
ng around to giving the child to learn: "Look, now we see the elephant in normal
position," "Oh, look what happens now, the elephant is upside down, upside down
, turned around "and so on. And we practiced also in the previous year).
As reinforcement when did the previous year, be terminated: - (name of child), y
ou see the cop in normal position, but I see the police face down. Next step wou
ld be to change your places: the child is placed where were you and you where he
was. And do the same questions. The next step would be to maintain the position
s, aa flip the card. And the series of questions again. Later, you can reinforce
the child's understanding with questions like why do I see the police face down
? - Because you're sitting in front, because you're not on my own site, etc. Wha
t if I flip the card? - Then you will see the police in normal position. Etc.
The situations and the different perspectives: View leads to knowledge.
Understanding the principle that "seeing leads to knowing." This is the ability
to understand that people only know the things I experience (directly or indirec
tly). In this curriculum, we simplify this level only evaluating the connection
between seeing and knowing, or hear and know.
The aim is to show children how a person can experience and learn about differen
t things to experience and know that someone else (you know the water is hot bec
ause I've played but, as I have not, I do not know - you you know there's an ele
phant in the room because you've seen or do not know what happened because you w
ere not there). To develop this skill is necessary to generate many situations o
f living with the child and also represent situations through drawings.
Exercise 1: You put a box in front of the child (in may be one of his favorite t
oys)
- "(Name of child), ¿(know) what's inside the box?" - Do not know, the case is c
losed, I can see - I do not know because the box is closed and can not see it. O
pen the box (the box is opened). What's inside the box? - A car - OK, the box is
a car. Now I know why you see it. The same can be done with a surprise gift.
Exercise 2: As working equipment need two boxes to hide things equal, and two id
entical objects that differ by color (a green ball, a yellow ball, for example).
- "(Name of child), look, I have a green ball and a yellow ball. (Or we can per
guntas, what I have in my hands?) I will hide every ball in a box. Close your ey
es (the child closes his eyes and hide the balls). Open your eyes. Question of k
nowledge: (name of child), you know what ball is inside this box? - Do not know.
Question of justification: (name of child), why you do not know what the ball i
s inside the box? - Why have not I seen how you hid or because I have not seen -
Okay, you do not know which ball is inside the box because they did not see me
hide the ball. If you do not see, you know. You can vary the game with questions
like: do you know where the yellow ball?, Why wanted to know where the green ba
ll?. Want to see where the ball is green? (Open box). Here it is. You know now w
here's the green ball? Why do you know? - Becausethe've seen when you open the b
ox, etc.. We then switched roles, and Erik hiding the balls and asked the questi
ons. Exercise 3: Same as the previous year but it introduces a third party. In o
ur case we used a doll (Greta), which we placed face down to hide the balls. The
questions will be of the type: Greta do you know where is the green ball?, Why
Greta does not know where is the yellow ball?, Etc. After Greta will look like i
n the boxes: Greta now know where the ball is green? Know why? - Because he has
seen, and so on.
Exercise 4: you sit on the floor back to back. Each one you have before you a bo
x, inside the box is an object (you can then raise the issue.) The child does no
t know what's in your box. - "(Name of child), what's in your box? - In my box t
here is a doll - Okay, in your box is a doll. "I can see me? - No, you can not s
ee it because you look the other way - Okay, I can not see because I look the ot
her way. - "(Name of child), I opened my box. Do you know what's in my box? - No
, I do not know what's in your box, I can see - Okay, you do because you can not
see it. In my box there is a top, look, come to see it (interactuáis to the top
) And now you can see the top? - Yes, now you see it.
Exercise 5: We sit down on the floor back to back. Each describiréis some of the
objects you see in the room. - (Child's name), oh, I see a red car with many li
ghts. What do you see? - I see a train. - (Name of child), "do you see the red c
ar with many lights? - No, I can not see. I look the other way - Sure, you can n
ot see the red car because you look the other way. - (Name of child), what else
do you see? - I see a table - Oh, you see a table, what I can see me? - No, you
can not see the table because you look the other way. And so on.
Illustration 6. The child is in a room and you're on the other side of the door
in the hallway (the door can be opened), but the child does not see you, just li
sten to your voice. Describiréis Each object you see and will be the questions l
ike what you see, do you see me?, Can you see yourself?, Etc.
Exercise 7: As material we will use a headset with ear flaps over the ears (or w
e can plug the ears with our hands).
The child's ears are covered by a headset (or hands). You make a sound, sing or
play a bell or say something, etc (they will be doing different variations). - "
(Name of child), what have you heard? (Or have you heard the sound, or have you
heard what I said?) - No, I have not heard anything or not, I could not hear bec
ause I have their ears covered - Okay, you could not hear the sound (or whatever
I have said) because you have ears plugged. You cover your ears with headphones
(or hands). The child makes a sound: - "(name of child), what I heard? (Or have
I heard the sound or what you said)? - You have not heard anything or you could
not hear, you have clogged ears - Okay, I have not heard anything because I hav
e their ears plugged. A variation of this exercise would be to use a stereo head
set. First the child listens to a children's song-cropped, or a particular sound
through headphones. You ask him later if you have been listening, etc. Then cha
nge roles, you listen and ask the child if you could hear it. Etcetera.
Exercise 8: To perform this exercise you need a third party. First will be the t
hird person (father, for example) in the room. The child says something or makes
a sound. - "(Name of child), have you heard the sound Daddy (or whatever you sa
id) - Yes, Dad heard me - Okay, Dad, you've heard it is here with us. After prac
ticing several times, Dad leaves the room and goes to another site. The child wa
tches dad is gone. After the child says something or makes a sound. - "(Name of
child), have you heard the sound of Dad (or what you said) - No, Dad has not hea
rd because they are here - Okay, Dad has not heard because it is somewhere else.
Exercise 9: We again need a third person. You are with the child and caress him
or give him a kiss or a hug (an action that has to do with the sense of touch).
Then orally tell what you did: "(name of child), I have cherished the hair", or
you ask, "Where have I cherished?, Etc.
When Dad enters the room. - "(Name of child), you know where you've cherished fa
ther? - No, do not know because you have not seen - Okay, Dad does not know wher
e I've cherished because he has not seen dad was not here. Then you will change
roles and be the child who does not see what happened and enter the room. Etc.
Exercise 10: Also with a third party. In this case we must perform an action, it
better be cropped, "do a picture, you play the xylophone, you build a tower on
the ground rodáis, bailáis with music and more., Etc. When Dad enters the room (
and you will have completed the action): - "(name of child), you know Dad what h
appened (or what we have done) - No, Dad does not know because he has not seen (
heard) - All right, Dad does not know because he has not seen or heard, Dad was
not here. Etcetera.
Exercise 11: to differentiate what one perceives one's own perspective on
situations raised with miniatures and drawings. Example 1: draw a situation:
We have three characters: a boy, the boy's mother and neighbor. The boy lives wi
th his mother in the house number 40, the neighbor at number 42. The boy's mothe
r goes to visit a neighbor. The child stays at home alone, plays with the ball a
nd accidentally breaks a vase. Does the mother that the child has broken the vas
e? No, Mom does not know because he has not seen. Why has not seen the mother? B
ecause mom is not home. He has been visiting a neighbor. Mom is in another house
. Etc. (the part of the mother with the neighbor has drawn Erik, and I've writte
n texts.€The part of the child I've drawn, and Erik has written texts).
Example 2: show cards with situations:
Mom does not know that the child picks his nose because from where you do not se
e the face, but the child who looks at the card because he knows it sees itself.
Reinforcement material for these exercises, the Autistic Classroom Blog de Lucí
a: http://aulautista.wordpress.com/
If your child has reading skills, conversation can use scripts that facilitate t
he task. Later we will gradually withdrawing:
Sample conversation script
Knowledge and proper use of different verbs "mental."
It is important that children learn and experience different verbs related to me
ntal actions, and to be able to apply them in reference to others. Some of these
verbs are: remember, imagine, think, feel, believe, deceive, dissemble, to pres
ume ... Some of these actions are very complex, so we have to go very slowly. We
can use sequences of actions, social stories, pictures, thumbnails, and most im
portantly, take advantage of situations that take place on the day to analyze an
d thus able to apply learning to everyday life, thus providing valuable and usef
ul to this learning. We are now working the verbs "mental" rather simple: to kno
w, think, believe, feel. Then let some examples of material (the book "In the mi
nds of Marc and Isabelle Monfort Monfort Juárez), and other materials we are usi
ng:
Examples to think, believe and know:
Show the pictures one by one. What grabs the girl?, You know what's inside?, Do
you know the girl?, What do you think is, how do you know? What have you heard t
he girl?, What do you think is inside? Now, you know what's inside? Why? Is it a
bird?
What the child hears?, What do you think is behind the door?
Examples of thinking, willing, feeling: (thanks to Dana, which has long hung in
the Forum this material Isis)
Mira (name of child), the kid is thinking what gift you want, what does the baby
gift? ... The boy replied saying: he wants a truck.
Mira (name of child) the gift that the baby receives his dad ... What gives him
the pope? The boy replied saying: Pope gives him a die. How do you feel the chil
d?: This Sad how this child? Why Cry? etc. Other examples:
Using conventional symbols, thoughts and conversations.
for
represent
The sandwiches used traditionally in the comics will be of great help to support
visually different activities and tasks related to the Theory of Mind. Teach th
e children to differentiate between "saying" and "think" or "take the head" (a t
erm more graphic and easily understandable). To this we must use thumbnails or b
ullets.
Erik have been working with the following material to link thoughts to feelings:
The girl is happy, what the child thinks? - You can draw the image within the cl
oud and thought. Ideas: ice cream, a toy, go to the Zoo, etc.
The girl is sad,.
The girl is angry.
The girl is scared. This link is material to work with practice dialogues and sy
mbols to represent conversations (we still have not used, but then we'll get to
it): http://isis.zm.nu/comics-strip-conversations-vt17023.html
Training belief.
specific
in
situations
of
False
The theory of false belief is the famous example of Sally-Ann:
Sally places a marble in a box. When Sally goes for a walk, Ana relocate the bal
l, placing it in a basket. Then Sally returns.
Question: "Where does Sally look for the ball?" Control Questions: "Where is the
ball now?" (Reality) "Where was the ball at first?" (Memory).
False belief situations can be first or second order. The tasks are solved first
order from 4 or 5 years old, the second order at 6 or 7 years in children with
normal development. Lucia (Autism Classroom) gave two examples in his blog taken
from the book by Marc Monfort: Task of first-order false belief: The Lord left
his glasses on the table and leaves the room. The lady kept the boxes in a drawe
r while he is away. When the Lord will look where your glasses?
Task of second-order false belief: The Lord gives the child an empty box but say
s that inside there is a rabbit.
The boy and his friend put the box over a cabinet and get to play. While playing
a cat gets inside the box. When it is Mr. do you expect to move the box? What a
bout the kids?
It is important to analyze in detail the tasks along with the child,€ensure prop
er understanding of all the details that make up. Besides the graphics, can be v
ery interesting to work with puppets that allow students more active.
Material and ideas for working with first-order false belief, with which we are
now. And Erik has stood the test of Sally-Ann !!!!!!!!
Exercise 1: Material already developed - Thank you, Dana, I take your words on h
ow you worked with your baby:
Look at my baby, pointing to the "Who is she? the father of that girl saying, Wh
at does the dad? ... Save socks, socks pointing Where stuffs? ... Put the socks
in the drawer, what color is the box? The box is red This noting my baby at a ti
me.
Watch the pope was and do not see what the baby, what does the baby? change the
baby's socks site. Where do you keep? ...
Put the socks in the drawer, what color is the box? The box is yellow.
Where to seek the pope's socks? First where the left, where did I leave? color i
n the drawer .... Red. But they are not What happened? Someone moved out of site
, if ... Who was it? ... The baby's red ribbon, "Where are the socks? Searching
.... I already said my daughter. But the Pope does not know, will you be in the
orange box? no, no Where? In the yellow box. Siiiiiiiii found them very well. We
are also other examples from the book In the Mind.
Exercise 2: Draw with Erik situations step by step:
The holder keeps your favorite mom (red) in the drawer. After going to the bathr
oom. The baby wants to eat potato chips. Take the red fork drawer. When finished
, put the dirty fork in the dishwasher.
The mother returns and wants to use the red fork. Where did you want?
Exercise 3: Designs interactive dolls that simulate cut the story:
Exercise 4: representation of the story with puppets or with Lego figurines.
Divining the intentions:
We still have not worked, so I leave the general ideas.
Examples of the book "The Mind" Marc Monfort:
What does the cat? What can you do? What does the child? Why not catch it? What
can you do to get it?
What does the child? Why not take? What can you do to get it? What does the monk
ey?, Etc.
Work true beliefs:
(In preparation, we have not yet been implemented with Erik) Exercise 1: Predict
ion of actions on the basis of knowledge of a person This exercise assesses the
ability of the child to understand that people can hold beliefs asks verdaderas.
Se children to predict actions based on where the other person thinks the object
is. Materials: rooms / places in which to place objects and different objects.
We can represent the story with dolls, with Lego figurines or draw. Idea to work
: Look, there's a ball on the table and another on the shelf This is Greta (the
wrist). This morning Greta saw the ball on the table but did not see the questio
n of belief Shelf: Where do you think Greta is the ball? Question of justificati
on: why you think you are on the table? Action Question: Where is Greta going to
get the ball? justification question: Why is going to go to the table? Remember
, Greta saw the ball on the table, then Greta busar will go to the ball on the t
able. Greta did not see the ball on the shelf, then it's going to look there. Ge
neral principle: people think that things are where vieron.Si not see them, then
do not know where.
Differentiation of truth and falsehood.
What comes continución I copied verbatim from the blog "Autism Classroom" Lucia.
I have not yet prepared to Erik, because we have to settle even the above steps
. Four leave it like that, but we do that work and some time "the absurd" http:/
/picasaweb.google.com/MaestrosAyL/TARJETASABSURDOSVISUALES # This is a very comp
lex phase as we will teach children not only to distinguish truth from falsehood
but also the way that people have to manipulate these states. The child must le
arn to detect these situations and also to provoke them. In this area of activit
ies include:
• • • •
Invention Scams Jokes complex emotional states (guilt, shame).
As you can see we are in a phase that requires some prerequisite skills in other
areas to be developed, especially as use of pragmatic skills to measure (higher
functions of communication, understanding nonverbal language, etc) to work thes
e skills can use some activities such as analysis of jokes and riddles, discover
errors absurd and attributing characteristics of true or false,€make jokes to f
riends and teachers, or likely to experience (for example, the child imagines wh
at's for dinner and then tests what is in reality ...). Another tool that can be
useful is the viewing of videos (preferably series or movies of interest) that
detect and analyze situations such as those already discussed. At this stage it
is also important to learn that one person can say one thing and thinking someth
ing different. This will be a key factor in order to make attribution of intenti
ons based on desires or beliefs. To do this we will rely again on sandwiches or
miniature vignettes representing what you think and what they say.