Narrative Ability in Autism : Strengths , Weaknesses , and Links to Social Understandingi i l i

CSHA Online Fall 2003 ◆ CSHA Magazine 5 Narrative Ability in Autisim continued on page 6 The stories we tell about our lives, hear told by and about others, and those jointly constructed and transmitted within communities are a valuable resource through which we build and reinforce relation-ships and participate in shared cultural practices. A uniquely human capability, narrative is an important sociocultural activity through which our world encounters are organized, reflected upon, and continually reconfigured as they are integrated into dynamic personal and cultural accounts that forge connections between self and other, and tether the past to the present and future. Telling stories about our own and others experiences is one way in which we interpret our lives in culturally meaningful ways (Bruner, 1987, 1991, 1997; Bruner & Kalmar, 1998; Capps & Ochs, 2001; Crapanzano, 1996; Ochs & Capps, 1996, 2001; Polkinghorne, 1991; Schiffrin, 1996). Furthermore, in evaluating and integrating our experiences in narratives, we commit them to memory where they contribute to our sense of the continuity of our lives over time (Fivush, 1994; Fivush & Reese, 1992; Hermans, 1999; Neisser & Fivush, 1994; Nelson, 1990, 2001; Snow, 1990).