**Author details**

Gunilla Thunberg\*

DART – Centre for AAC and Assistive Technology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden

### **References**


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**8. The AAC-modes should be used and modelled by the child's communication part‐ ners** (aided language stimulation or modelling) to promote learning and spontaneous use

These recommendations means that the child in our formulated question should be provided

Parts of chapter two, three and four was first published in the author's thesis [96]. Thanks to my collegues in the ebp-group: Lena Nilsson, Maria Nolemo, Barbara Eberhart, Jessica

DART – Centre for AAC and Assistive Technology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden

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of the symbols.

**Acknowledgements**

**Author details**

Gunilla Thunberg\*

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**Section 8**

**Aetiological Factors - The Autistic Self and**

**Creativity**


**Aetiological Factors - The Autistic Self and Creativity**

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2004; 13 31-42

746 Recent Advances in Autism Spectrum Disorders - Volume I

1431.

**Chapter 31**

**Atypical Sense of Self in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A**

The concept of self is notoriously difficult to define and different notions and theories of the self have been proposed by a variety of disciplines all interpreting concepts of self and iden‐ tity in various ways. We adopt the definition advanced by neuroscientists Kircher and Da‐ vid [1] who interpret the self as 'the commonly shared experience, that we know we are the same person across time, that we are the author of our thoughts/actions, and that we are dis‐ tinct from the environment' (p.2). In cognitive neuroscience literature, operational defini‐ tions of the self are used which are measurable by experimental methods including self recognition, self and other differentiation, body awareness, awareness of other minds, awareness of self as expressed in language and important concepts such as autobiographical memory and self narrative. There is significant interest in the role of the self and possible abnormalities associated with the self, as causally implicated in autism. In this paper we re‐ view developmental perspectives of self and self-related functions with reference to their neuroanatomical basis and investigate the possible causes for atypical self-development in

The question whether individuals with ASD have a different sense of self than people with‐ out ASD, i.e. 'neurotypicals' has fascinated researchers and clinicians for decades. Kanner [2] in 1943 already noted self-deficits in the children he described, including their difficulties in maintaining a constant self-concept, and associated problems of adapting their fragile

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© 2013 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

**Neuro-Cognitive Perspective**

Viktoria Lyons and Michael Fitzgerald

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53680

**1.1. Self – Definitions and concepts**

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

**2. Review of studies investigating the self in ASD**

**1. Introduction**

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter
