Is mind-reading essential to language-learning and use? An analysis of autism through the lens of neuro-constructivism

The co-evolution of the brain and language is a complex interplay. The functional brain is an integrated system comprising many interacting subsystems. Each subsystem may consist of a network of distinct neural bases with varying degrees of specialization at individual nodes. Widespread alteration of functional brain connectivity in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) forces us to reevaluate the idea of ASD as a disturbance of social cognition and social information processing exclusively. A fundamental brain difference that reshapes neuronal connectivity between various functional networks may admit a non-social, rule-based systemising mechanism of language learning in ASD, although it might not enable them to engage in Wittgensteinian ‘language games’ and coax, cajole, or coerce minds. However, rather than supporting nativism per se, this atypical language processing in autism enables us to assess cognitive processes in a perturbed, neural constructivist state and explore ways to strengthen the neuro-constructive process.