My 13-year-old son with ASD has passed all of the false belief tests, yet he still has great difficulty with social skills. Why?
Even individuals with ASD who have average or high IQs who have passed theory of mind/false belief tests still may have challenges with other higher-level skills and using these skills in generalization. Often persons are able to explain answers and correctly identify the feelings and thoughts of others when they are not anxious and in a non-stressful and comfortable environment. However, when placed in a stressful environment or when having to react in quick, flowing social exchanges, behavior often lags behind and individuals are not able to show what they know in testing situations. Remember the tests that your son passed tapped skills that typically developing children acquire between 4 and 6 years of age.
