This study employed the self-understanding interview of Damon and
Hart (1988) to assess
the self-concepts of two groups of children and adolescents: a group of
individuals with
autism and a group of nonautistic mentally retarded individuals who were
matched for age
and for verbal ability. On the basis of an hypothesis concerning the interpersonal
origins of
social and psychological self-concepts (Hobson, 1990; Neisser, 1988), it
was predicted that
the participants with autism would show a relative dearth of such concepts
in their talk about
themselves. In accordance with our predictions, there was a significant
group difference in
the number and quality of statements that fell into the social category
of self-concept;
contrary to our predictions, however, there was no group difference in
the number of
statements that fell into the psychological category. In addition, although
there were
not significant group differences in the overall production of
verbally expressed
concepts concerning self-attributes of a physical, active, or psychological
kind, even within
these categories individuals with autism made fewer
references to social interactions or qualities.
These results are discussed with regard to theories of self-concept development
in typically
developing as well as autistic and mentally retarded individuals, and with
reference to the
limitations of interpersonal understanding (“theory of mind”)
in people with autism.
