| abstract | - Pronoun reversal has confused neurotypical researchers, who assume that autistic children do not understand the difference between themselves and others. "Pronoun reversal is when the person with autism confuses first and second person pronouns in speech. (Autism and Language: Description and Diagnosis) He will use "you" to refer to him or herself, and use "I" to refer to his or her listener. This might be a sign that children with autism fail to identify themselves as separate from the person with whom they are speaking or might just be experiencing linguistic confusion."Autistic writer Cynthia Kim describes pronoun reversal as an issue that arises as part of language development. The child understands the general meaning of the phrase, but does not yet know what the individual words mean. "Imagine I said to you “blerg ick gump?” and then gave you a delicious treat. A few hours, later you decide you want another one of those yummy things so you walk over to the spot in the kitchen where you know the yummy thing comes from and say “blerg ick gump?” You have no idea what the words mean–and you certainly don’t know that you’re supposed to transform my “blerg ick gump?” into the correctly worded “norkle ick gump?” All you know for sure is that the last time I said “blerg ick gump?” a treat materialized, so what the heck, maybe it will work again."Pronoun reversal is more common in children, and it is likely to go away as the child's mastery of language improves. Adults can help the autistic child use correct pronouns through teaching and plenty of exposure to spoken language.
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