title: Asperger through the looking glass: an exploratory study of self-understanding in people with Asperger's syndrome.
abstract: Hobson (Autism and the development of mind. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hove, UK 1993) has proposed that the cognitive and linguistic disabilities that characterise autism result from abnormalities in inter-subjective engagement during infancy, which in turn results in impaired reflective self-awareness. The aim of the present study was to test Hobson's hypothesis by examining self-understanding in Asperger's syndrome (AS) using Damon and Hart's (Self-understanding in childhood and adolescence. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1988) model of self-concept. Ten participants with Asperger's syndrome were compared with ten non AS controls using the Self-understanding Interview (Damon and Hart in Self-understanding in Childhood and Adolescence. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1988). The study found that the Asperger's group demonstrated impairment in the "self-as-object" and "self-as-subject" domains of the Self-understanding Interview, which supported Hobson's concept of an impaired capacity for self-awareness and self-reflection in people with ASD. The results are discussed with reference to previous research regarding the development of self-understanding in people with ASD.
authors.affiliation: Merseycare NHS Trust, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Skirrow
authors.forename: Dougal Julian
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hare
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D020817:Asperger Syndrome / Q000523:psychology*; D032882:Comprehension; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012649:Self Concept