Judgements of self-understanding in adolescents with Asperger syndrome.

Previous research has demonstrated that adults with high functioning autism (HFA)/Asperger syndrome (AS) judge others as having as much knowledge about their inner mental states as they do. The current study examined whether this pattern also applies to adolescents with HFA/AS because typically developing adolescents, in contrast to younger children, regard themselves as experts on their own inner states. Twenty-two adolescents with HFA/AS and 22 controls judged how much they versus a comparison person knew about 6 aspects of their inner states. In contrast to typically developing adolescents, those with HFA/AS judged the comparison person as having more knowledge about themselves than they did. This study suggests that adolescents with HFA/AS have more pronounced difficulties with this aspect of self-knowledge than do adults with this condition. The implications of this deficit for social functioning are discussed.