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“Father, I Cannot Tell A Lie”… The Apparent Inability To Lie In The Autistic
Child…
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If you think about it, the autistic child's world is one of exactness and
completeness in everything. A lie is, by definition, a "fabrication" and thus,
until the autistic child sees another child lying and the lie is labeled as "a
lie", then, the autistic child appears unable to lie because it is
something that is simply not part of "normal life". Young children
do not lie until "taught" to lie. They must "learn it" by seeing someone
else do it. A "lie" is a new
"part" or "aspect" of language that is, at least at first,
unknown or "nonexistent" to the autistic child. Yet, once a lie is heard
and the "label" of "a lie" is given and the autistic child actually perceives
that "this is a falsehood", I believe autistic children can integrate "a lie" into language
capabilities and can "fib" as well as anyone else. :o) Again,
as with everything, in my opinion, labeling is key!
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