Author(s)

Sergio Melogno^1*, Barbara Trimarco¹, Maria Antonietta Pinto², Gabriel Levi¹

¹Department of Paediatrics, Child Neurology and Psychiatry, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Roma, Italy.
²Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Roma, Italy.

Social cognition difficulties are well documented in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This clinical case study reports on social cognition assessment and treatment of a gifted child, SC (9 years), with ASD and an extraordinarily high verbal IQ (146). The assessment of theory of mind, emotion recognition and pragmatic abilities showed some weaknesses in these areas. The 4-month treatment was divided into 14 sessions and was aimed at helping SC to improve his abilities to recognize emotions and comprehend mental states. The main technique used in the intervention was “social reading” with video clips. The initial assessment was repeated after the treatment and in a follow up session. The results of this case study suggest that “social reading” can be considered as a beneficial technique for children with high-functioning ASD, and especially in giftedness conditions.

Autism Spectrum Disorder, Gifted Child, Social Cognition, Treatment, Assessment

Melogno, S. , Trimarco, B. , Pinto, M. and Levi, G. (2016) Sensitizing a Gifted Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder towards Social Cognition: From Assessment to Treatment. World Journal of Neuroscience, 6, 171-180. doi: 10.4236/wjns.2016.62021.