Teoría de la mente y lectura en las personas con trastornos del espectro autista: hipótesis para una relación compleja

Persons with autism spectrum disorders often present limited reading comprehension levels that cannot be explained by problems in basic word reading processes or cognitive development. Some previous research points to difficulties in extracting implicit information from text through inferencing as a possible cause. Inferencing problems seem greater in texts with social content, something which could be related to mentalizing deficits. These, however, could also influence other more subtle reading processes, such as referential inferences or attributions of authors' aims. At the same time, some recent data suggest that inferencing difficulties are not as pervasive as previously thought. In particular, in this paper limitations in bridging inferences are questioned, based on results from a recent experimental on-line study. These are compared to those obtained in previous research using off-line methods. It is concluded that there is still a need for systematic research into the different types of inferences necessary for appropriate reading comprehension.