Training Syntax to Enhance Theory of Mind in Children with ASD.
Stephanie Durrleman, Anamaria Bentea, Andreea Prisecaru and 2 others
PMID 35357603WHAT IT FOUND
Children with autism and typically developing peers improved on false-belief and complement tasks after tablet training using animated stories and 'says that' sentences.
Low-verbal false-belief gains remained 4 to 6 weeks later. Less severe autism and higher non-verbal reasoning were linked to more benefit.
Key findings
01Both the children with ASD and the younger typically developing children answered more items correctly after training than before training.
02For children with ASD, low-verbal false-belief accuracy was higher after training and at delayed testing than before training.
03In the verbal false-belief task, children with lower autism severity scores increased accuracy by 39%, compared with 20% in children with higher scores; higher non-verbal reasoning was linked to better post-test performance.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
There was no random allocation and no separate control group receiving an alternative training, so improvement could reflect repeated testing, maturation, or other features of the tablet program. The intervention included animated tablet stories, communication-complement sentences, and repeated sessions; the study cannot separate which component produced gains. The children with ASD were much older than the typically developing children, so post-test comparisons between groups are not a clean control comparison. Only children who could understand simple sentences and scored below 70% on target tasks were included, so results may not apply to children with more severe language or autism symptoms. Outcomes were computer test scores, not daily social communication or theory-of-mind behaviour outside therapy. Delayed testing was reported mainly for the ASD group; the typically developing group was not followed after training.
Declared interests
Funded by Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung and University of Fribourg; the supplied text does not report competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that training on syntax alone caused theory-of-mind gains. The children received a multi-element tablet program with animated stories and repeated complement sentences, and there was no control training group, so other aspects of the program or repeated testing could explain the improvement.