Measuring Theory of Mind in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The ASD and control groups were not equivalent on verbal IQ. The ASD group had lower verbal comprehension scores, and verbal IQ helped predict group membership, so some social test difference may reflect verbal or language demands. The study excluded adults with performance IQ below 85, so it does not show how the test would perform for adults with intellectual disability. The item set was selected from the same sample that was later compared, so the final social items were chosen partly because they separated the groups. The ASD sample came from autism services, previous research participants, and flyers, while the control sample was mostly university students or transition-to-university participants. This may not represent all adults with ASD or all typical adults. The paper did not show that A-ToM scores predict real-world social functioning, diagnosis, treatment response, or adaptive skills. No age or gender norms were available.

Do not treat a low A-ToM social score as proof that an adult has a Theory of Mind deficit or as a diagnostic marker for autism. Adults with ASD and controls overlapped on the social scale, some adults with ASD scored near ceiling, and the score did not track self-reported autism severity.