Finally, a social skill intervention technique, used with young children with ASD in a public elementary school in the United States will be described. Theory of mind is what allows us to know what people around us are thinking and feeling. Frith also implicates a lack of theory of mind in the deficit in establishing and maintaining joint attention that children with ASD exhibit.
Routines are important to the development of both social interactions and early communication.
In addition, the speech used by an adult in social routines provides a support, or scaffold, for language learning. In the case of children with ASD, however, often there is a lack of ability to engage and maintain joint episodes of joint attention. Children with ASD are unable to understand the subtle changes they see in facial expressions and have difficulty interpreting the intentions of others. This lack of understanding leads to poor social decisions being made. These difficulties explain both why children with ASD have difficulty understanding social situations and suggest a framework for intervention.