Good morning, everyone.

 

It is federal law that all schools, must, in order to make sure that they are effectively testing their students, administer to their students the “standardized test.” In the fourth and fifth grades, like all Illinois students, I took three tests—the CTBS and TCS, the Terra Nova tests, and the ISAT.

 

A few years ago, President George W. Bush signed into law the “No Child Left Behind” act, an act which basically requires all schools to show that they are educating their students by way of yet another standardized test.

 

What is the conclusion? Society has decided for you that when it comes to determining how well your children have been taught their lessons, a standardized test is the best way to go. Therefore, in order to test your knowledge, I’m going to give you a standardized test.

 

Recently a theory has been proposed regarding autism called the “theory of mind.” This theory states that what determines an autistic child from a normal child is whether or not they have a theory of mind. Autistic children do not have a theory of mind, whereas normal children do. What is a theory of mind? It is the ability to understand and acknowledge that the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs of other people are different than your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. It is also the ability to, as much as you possibly can, be able to understand what those thoughts, feelings, and beliefs are at a given moment.

 

Given that this theory is widely accepted as true, I’m going to see whether or not I can prove it in this audience. I’m going to test your theory of mind. Not just any theory of mind. Your theory of mind toward the autistic person. This test will measure how well you understand how an autistic person’s mind works, and even allows you to feel what it’s like if you were an autistic person in the same predicament you are right now.

 

This test is in its experimental phase. In order for it to be legitimate, I have to take the test with a control group. Since I do not know the backgrounds of anyone here, I feel this is a control group. It has also been ratified and reviewed by the autism lecturer Stephen M. Shore. Therefore, it has been peer-reviewed.

 

Without further ado, let’s take the Autism Empathy Test, Form A. We shall begin with a practice test.

 

And remember, if you cannot remember your answers until the end of the Empathy Test, it is recommended that you take out a sheet of paper and a #2 pencil, and write them down.

 

< >