Adult Theory of Mind Screening Test

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In a series of short films, actors portray 'real world' situations to highlight subtle social interactions.

Autistic adults may have different behaviors or perspectives in the workplace or in social situations which may lead them into compromised situations. Some might be excluded from social and job opportunities, taken advantage of financially or by criminals.

With this in mind, Flinders University and other experts have developed a new screening system to give autism researchers and clinicians working with autistic adults fresh insights into 'perspective taking' difficulties.

A tool to give an initial assessment of the Theory of Mind in Autistic Adults (A-ToM-Q) has been evaluated by experts in the field from Australia and the UK.

In a series of short films, actors portray 'real world' situations to highlight subtle social interactions.

They used a simple questionnaire and series of short clips to test reactions and responses from about 100 autistic (diagnosed with autism, ASD, Asperger Syndrome etc in South Australia and England) and a sample of non-autistic adults matched for verbal abilities.

The research showed that limitations in drawing the appropriate inferences from these stimuli is predictive of individuals' social-behavioral and interpersonal interaction difficulties, as well as the ability to extricate oneself from misplaced suspicion of involvement in some criminal activity.