bid Report post Posted July 8, 2005 (edited) Hi all, Today I realised that my 4 year old doesn't understand that the reflection in a mirror is him. He was asking me 'why little boys and little girls have a matching little boy and little girl?'... Has anyone else experienced this, and do you think it is an ASD 'thing'?? The other thread on Mirrors was really about how some children love watching their reflection. Bid Edited July 9, 2005 by bid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
baddad Report post Posted July 8, 2005 Hi Bid - It's that 'theory of mind' thing again... When he starts to get the dolly on the fact that others have different perceptions to him he'll also start to recognise that the mirror is a reflection of himself (i.e. seen from another 'perception'). NT kids usually start to grasp this at around 18mths - 2years, but with ASD there's a tendency for the child to see the world as an extension of 'self', so they have to get their heads round that concept before they can progress to the next stage. If you've taken him for tests, you may have seen them (i.e.) hide a doll behind a cushion or something, to see if he realises it's not gone just because it's out of view. There's a couple of variations on the theme, but they're all effectively hiding an object in a very obvious (to us) manner... Hope that helps BD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bid Report post Posted July 9, 2005 Mmmm, Pretty much what I thought, Bads Oh well, another example for my ever-growing 'history' for the Communication Disorder Clinic in the Autumn! Bid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gordie Report post Posted July 9, 2005 Animals are often just as clueless. James Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mandyque Report post Posted July 9, 2005 My daughter absolutely adores mirrors and will admire herself for hours on end She finds reflections in all sorts of things, I was overjoyed one time to find her gazing into my eyes until I realised she could see herself in my glasses She loves to dance and watch herself doing things in the mirror and it's funny when we are out shopping and she finds a mirror and starts dancing in front of it My theory is that she can control everything that her reflection does and she likes to see what she looks like as she does things, what movements she uses for instance, like she watches the TV to learn dance moves (her favourite things are music and dancing). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jadensmum Report post Posted July 11, 2005 Hi bid, Jaden is exactly the same. His key worker keeps working on this with him and I do at home but I think he really doesn't recognise himself. Going on from what Baddad said, Jaden is only just starting to look for toys / objects he may have dropped or someone has hidden from him. However, he isn't consistent with this and often just walks away. Denisex Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niki Report post Posted July 19, 2005 oooh mirrors I can relate! Tristan cannot physically leave a mirror unlooked! he will have conversations with you whilst looking in the mirror, no mirror goes unlooked in our lives! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
