Individuals with autism exhibit various developmental deficits. The impairment in intellectual functioning affects the ability of the individual both in aspects of information processing and in acquired knowledge. In other words, individuals with autism usually exhibit problems regarding their ability to plan, flexibility of thought and action, set-shifting, inhibition, attention, working memory, and attending to verbally mediated skills. On the other hand, some individuals with autism exhibit genius-like traits in a specific area. When concentrating on their particular talent, they are able to use that part of brain to its full capacity. However, they tend to close out the rest of the world which can be considered both a strength and a weakness depending on the circumstances.

Empirical associations between theory of mind deficits and psychological problems were first demonstrated in autism, and have been held to explain the difficulties in communication, imagination and the formation of relationships that are characteristics of that disorder (Kinderman, et al., 1998, p. 192). This centers around those individuals with autism who do not understand the thoughts, emotions, attitudes, or intention of others. Researchers have recognized these characteristics as mind blindness. In addition, individuals with autism may lack a central drive for coherence.That is, they do not possess the ability to see the relevance of different types of knowledge and apply that knowledge to particular problems. They may understand what is taking place in other people's minds but they are unable to apply this knowledge effectively. For example, they may not realize that their comments could cause offense or embarrassment or that an apology would help to repair the person's feeling. An autistic child who has taken the favorite toy of another child without permission may, in fact, know how this action affects the other child. However, the child with autism cannot apply that knowledge at that moment when they took the toy. The method of "Stop, Think, Do" is used to teach children to think of the consequence before they act. They should stop and think how others will feel before they say or do something. The thoughts and feelings of other people should always be relevant.

Things to remember:

	Give specific examples of different kinds of situations that children should learn to relate to.
	Don't "play" on their feelings.
	Help them cope with their feelings; don't ignore them.
	While engaged in play, help them to understand the perspective and thoughts of others using guidance and instruction.