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Can autistic children lie?

Interst in autism

Please forgive my ignorance. My friend has a child that has been recently diagnosed. For a long time the GPs and specialists weren't sure. We still don't know if he has Asperger's or some other type. He is a happy, friendly, 6yo boy who sometimes struggles with eye contact and has some speech difficulty. She insists autistic children cannot lie. Could you shed some light with your personal experience? Thanks in advance.

Parents

  • There's a very big difference between mental ability across the spectrum. I'm on the autistic spectrum and I'm quite capable of lying. I expect many children, even autistic ones, are capable of lying when it suits- to deflect blame from themselves, for example. I would also expect though that many autistic children have a reputation for being truthful if they don't understand the concept of a secret or of social interactions where maybe they just didn't need to repeat something and so they haven't seen the point of lying, discretion, covering the truth, diplomatic answers etc.

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  • There's a very big difference between mental ability across the spectrum. I'm on the autistic spectrum and I'm quite capable of lying. I expect many children, even autistic ones, are capable of lying when it suits- to deflect blame from themselves, for example. I would also expect though that many autistic children have a reputation for being truthful if they don't understand the concept of a secret or of social interactions where maybe they just didn't need to repeat something and so they haven't seen the point of lying, discretion, covering the truth, diplomatic answers etc.

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