Cognitive Style, Spirituality, and Religious Understanding: The Case of Autism

People with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs), such as Asperger syndrome or high functioning autism, present with difficulties in social understanding (including ‘theory of mind’), and restricted and repetitive interests. Theory of mind or ‘mentralizing’ describes the ability to understand the ment...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Deeley, Quinton (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Routledge 2009
Dans: Journal of religion, disability & health
Année: 2009, Volume: 13, Numéro: 1, Pages: 77-82
Sujets non-standardisés:B Cognitive styles
B Autism
B Théorie de l'esprit
B Religion
Accès en ligne: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Résumé:People with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs), such as Asperger syndrome or high functioning autism, present with difficulties in social understanding (including ‘theory of mind’), and restricted and repetitive interests. Theory of mind or ‘mentralizing’ describes the ability to understand the mental states (beliefs, desires, intentions) of others, including human or quasi-human agents in stories. Hence, it is a prerequisite for understanding religious narratives (for example, scriptures). Also, the restricted interests of people with autistic disorders are experienced as uniquely preoccupying and meaningful, and often involve non-social topics. Hence, the combination of: 1) mentralizing deficits, and 2) nonsocial restricted interests would be predicted to affect the religious and/or spiritual understanding, interests, and sensibility of people with ASD. This article considers these possibilities and proposes that further research is necessary to understand how the cognitive style of people with ASDs affects their discernments of meaning and value in life.
ISSN:1522-9122
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal of religion, disability & health
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/15228960802581479