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100 Autism Research Paper Topics

Careful selection of autism research paper topics is very important. That’s because there are many autism topics that students can research and write about. The topic that a learner chooses dictates the direction that their research and writing process will take. As such, students should select their topic ideas based on their academic goals. Ideally, what a learner opts to write about should help them accomplish their study goals.

Autism can be defined as a spectral disorder that makes a child seem to have a world of their own. Many parents misinterpret this disorder and assume that the child does not notice them. However, this is usually not the case. Parents are the first people to notice this disorder. With more children being diagnosed with this disorder, educators are asking learners to write about autism essay topics.

If you’ve been asked to write about this subject, take your time to research this disorder. You can even read the autobiographies of autistic people. If possible, meet and interact with autistic people before you start writing. This will give you an idea of what this condition is all about. Our psychology topics may also come in handy. In most cases, you will be required to focus your paper or essay on the creation of more autism awareness. This article highlights some of the topics in autism that you can consider for your paper or essay.

Basic Autism Research Paper Topics

Autism is a broad research area. Researchers have delved into this field and came up with different findings. However, you can still pick a topic for your research in this field and come up with new information. Here are some of the most interesting research topics in autism that can form the basis of your academic paper or essay.

• Why some people autistic and others are not?
• Does being autistic have advantages?
• Why is being autistic disadvantageous?
• Some people have a good memory or recall skills, explain why
• Facts that people should know about autism
• Explain the chemical brain differences between autistic and non-autistic individuals
• Discuss some of major breakthroughs in autism research
• Why do people with autism have difficulty socializing with others?
• What can normal people learn from autistic people’s brains?
• What characteristics should a person with autism have?
• How should an autistic person be trained during care provision?
• What should caregivers understand about autism to do their job right?
• Explain the behavior of autistic individuals towards family members
• Provide an average autistic individual’s overview
• How can the social interactions of autistic people be improved?
• Explain what causes autism
• What educational programs do autistic people have?
• How to diagnose autism in the early stages
• Explain the role of music in an autistic person’s life
• Is there a treatment for reducing autistic people’s disadvantages?
• What are the employment limitations and opportunities for autistic people?
• Discuss the major stories about autism that have been shared in the media
• What is yet to be discovered about autism?
• Explain how healthcare workers can help autistic individuals go through their daily life
• Describe the top 5 autistic individuals that are best known in history

These are some of the most interesting autism topics for research paper or essay. However, you should research them extensively before you start writing. That’s because each of these topics requires you to include verifiable facts in your paper or essay.

Strong Autism Dissertation Topics

With so many children being diagnosed with autism, more learners are writing dissertations on this subject. And there are many autism research topics from which a learner can choose. Here are some of the best autism thesis topics to consider.

• Is there evidence to prove that environmental triggers are responsible for rising autism cases?
• Explain the relationship between stimming self-regulator for anxiety and autism
• Why is autism prevalence in western society greater?
• How is autism related to mental health?
• How can family doctors be supported to take care of autistic people?
• Discuss autism and childhood immunization
• Discuss some of the prominent individuals in history that were most likely autistic
• How can autistic people be supported at the workplace?
• How do autistic females differ from autistic males?
• Can autistic children adapt to mainstream education?
• What are the positives and negatives of special education for autistic children?
• Should autistic children attend special schools?
• Why do people consider autism a spectrum disorder?
• What diagnostic changes have raised the concern that Asperger’s Syndrome might no longer exist
• Does lifestyle play a role in autism?

Some of these topics on autism may seem complex to research and write about. However, you can find relevant and sufficient supporting evidence from different sources. You just need the time and resources required to write about any of these topics about autism.

Autism Parent Training Topics

Raising an autistic child is not easy. Parents and caregivers should learn about autism spectrum disorder and its effects on their children. They should also learn how this disorder affects the entire family. It’s for this reason that researchers focus on research topics in autism that educate parents and caregivers about taking care of autistic children. Here are some of the best autism social learning topics.

• How to manage the parenting challenges for people with autistic children
• How to enhance the communication skills of autistic children
• How to enhance the coping skills of autistic children
• How to address the negative behaviors of autistic children
• How to increase the play skills of autistic children
• How to diagnose autism early in children
• How to increase the independence of autistic children
• How to improve self-help in autistic children
• How does autism in one child affect the other family members?
• How to solve the daily problems of autistic children

Each of these topics is meant to produce a paper or essay that can help parents of autistic children cope with the disorder. The information can also help the parents make their children lead a better life despite their condition.

Paper Topics about Autism and Education

Since it’s a complex disorder that affects brain development, autism touches on education as well. Here are some of the good research paper topics on autism and education that you can write about.

• Why is autism worth researching?
• Discuss the causes of autism
• Discuss the development realms that are affected by autism
• What resources do autistic people have access to?
• Explain how autistic children learn
• Explain how autism affects the learning process
• Explain the struggles of autistic students
• Explain parent training autism
• Discuss the major types of autism
• How does learning differ between autistic and normal students?

These topics focus on the relationship between autism and learning or education. Just like the topics in the other categories, they require extensive research to write about too.

Autism Research Proposal Topics

A lot of information about autism is being discussed by researchers across the world. This makes it hard for some learners to pick proposal topics for their autism papers. Here are some of the topics to consider if struggling to pick your proposal topic.

• What is autism therapy?
• Is autism therapy helpful?
• How should caregivers provide care to autistic persons?
• What is the best way to work for an autistic person?
• Working with an autistic person- What are the major challenges?
• How do you cope with an autistic family member?
• How should autistic people be treated in social places?
• What limitations do autistic people have in modern society?
• Is the current society considerate of autistic people?
• How does modern technology benefit autistic people?

If you pick a research topic on autism from this category, take the time to research it extensively to write a brilliant paper or essay.

Thought-Provoking Autism Debate Topics

Perhaps, you want to write a paper or essay that can form the basis of a debate about autism. In that case, consider one of these topics.

• How celebrities and pseudo-scientists have caused serious damage by claiming that autism is related to vaccinations
• How to educate society about autism
• How to change the future of autistic children with early interventions
• How school officials can help autistic children
• How to help autistic kids whose parents are uncooperative or in denial
• How autistic children can benefit from occupational therapy
• Discuss the DSM-V regarding autism
• How educational opportunities for autistic children compare to those of normal children
• How health officials can convince the public that shots don’t cause autism
• Should children that have not been vaccinated because parents believe that vaccines cause autism be taken to school?
• How to support siblings of an individual with autism
• How to transition a person with autism to community-based services from school-based services.
• How to fight for autistic people’s rights
• How to deal with the psychological struggles of autistic children
• How music affects autistic patients
• Social organizations for autistic people
• Why diagnosing autism early is important
• Can autism be prevented?
• How to interact with autistic people
• What employment options do autistic people have?
• How to manage autism in adults
• A brief history of autism
• How living with an autistic person can affect your life
• How genetics affect autism
• Can the environment cause autism?
• Can medical treatment cause autism?
• A review of autism in different countries
• A review of autism in different cultures
• What signs of autism should parents watch out for?
• How to develop a treatment plan for autism

This category has controversial topics autism researchers can explore too. Nevertheless, whether you choose parenting or autism biology topics for research paper, take the time to research extensively before you start writing. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you need thesis writing help .

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165 Autism Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Struggle with writing a research paper topics on autism? We’ve got your back covered! Below, you will find a list of 147 topics about autism as well as autism research paper examples!

🏆 Best Research Autism Topics & Essay Examples

👍 good autism essay topics, 💡 psychology research autism topics to write about, ⭐ simple & easy autism essay titles, ❓ research questions about autism.

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Autism is a serious disorder that has the potential to disrupt the success of people living with it. This is to mean that the theory of causation regarding autism is not complete as yet.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder in a Child At the moment, M.is more verbal with his parents and siblings and reacts adequately to them, especially in repeated day-to-day situations.
• “Let Me Hear Your Voice: A Family’s Triumph Over Autism” by Catherine Maurice The book was published in 1994, and it was a success as parents of autistic children were waiting for someone to prove that autism was not an incurable disorder.
• Analysis of Children Autism in “The Black Balloon” It is imperative to note that Charlie’s emotions are not regulated and as such, manifest in immature behaviors such as flapping of his hands.
• How Christopher’s Autism Affect His Life In spite of the fact that the issue of autism is not clearly explained in the story, the condition of the narrator is referred to as high-functioning autism or Aspersers Syndrome on the cover of […]
• Social Work Methods to Treat the Child Who Is Suffering From Autism This is a clear indicator that alcohol intake by the family is costing the members and it is an issue that needs to be looked into.
• Inclusion Curriculum for Children With Autism In the given paper, the issue of children autism, the developmental issues that autism triggers and the educational prospects for children with autism are going to be considered.
• Autism. Sensory Integration. Tactile Desensitization The poor development that is recorded at the early stages in life is likely to affect the development of different skills by the individuals even in the adult stages The signs that are associated with […]
• Reducing Off-Task Behaviors Using a Token Economy System in Children With Autism Token economy is a strategy of positive reinforcement that can be provided to children in the form of tokens for completing the assigned tasks.
• Exploring Autism in the Drama Film Rain Man Charlie Babbitt, the brother to Raymond, is the actor who portrays Raymond’s autism on the way to Los Angeles to secure his fair share in the Babbitt’s $3 million fortunes in form of inheritance.
• Autism Spectrum Disorders and Family Impact One of the greatest fears of a parent with such a child is the fact that such a child would be taken care of until the advanced stages of their lives.
• Language Development Problems in Children: An Indicative Characteristic of Autism This is because it is a time when it is expected that a majority of the kids should be able to talk.
• Applied Behavior Analysis and Autism The primary subject of this study is applied behavior analysis while the secondary subject is applied behavior analysis and its effects on autism in children.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder However, the reality is that the number of children with autism and having high intelligence is insignificant. It is apparent that, in autism, a disorder is found in the structure of the brain.
• Impact of Autism Disorder on Adolescents This essay discusses the impact of autism disorder on adolescents in the community and a nursing intervention that can be used to assist adolescents in becoming prominent society members.
• Progression of Reading Ability in a Child Diagnosed With Autism The battery of assessments and interviews with parents on the participant’s socialization and early reading ability indicates the study applied the Psychometric and Social Contextual approaches.
• Analysis of Behavior of Preschool Age Child With Autism The child’s behavior in the video differs from that of a mentally healthy child, and these differences lie in the child’s other emotional state and degree of interest in talking to people.
• Autism and Disability Advocacy People with autism can contribute to the diversity of disability culture by expanding understanding of what disability is and how it can be accepted.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis According to DSM-5, to fit the diagnostic criteria for ASD, a child must have evident deficits in three major areas of social communication as well as 2 out of the 4 restricted or repetitive behaviors.
• Thinking in Pictures: Autism and Sensory Problems The chapter “The Squeeze Machine: Sensory Problems in Autism” in Grandin’s Thinking in Pictures presents a series of life perspectives of various individuals, including her own, regarding the sensory problems they experienced. They postulated that […]
• Therapeutic Programs for Children With Autism in K-12 Institutions In the paper, the gaps in the research of effective treatments for children with ASD are explored, after which the efficacy of a multi-system aquatic therapy and standardized equine-assisted therapy program is argued.
• Societal Issue Research Project: Autism Spectrum Disorder The first factor is the significant risk that the genetics of siblings who had ASD diagnosis will increase the chance of the disorder.
• Child-Centered Play Therapy and Autism The purpose of the discussed research was to investigate the effects of CCPT on the sample of children with autism, establishing and describing the connection between CCPT and social and emotional growth.
• Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Training Program for Caregivers The latter means that many caregivers take care of children with ASD, hence the importance of equipping them with the necessary skills for effective and smooth parenting and coping with various difficulties.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder’s Impact on Child’s Learning In regards to the public-school setting, standardized testing demands youngsters to grasp and react to spoken as well as written communication at an anticipated pace and level.
• Laboratory Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders The purpose of my study is to discover which of these methods is more accurate, with the reason being the importance of early diagnosis of ASD, which leads to better treatment outcomes.
• Autism and Related Cognitive Concepts It has been suggested that children with autism show a general deficit of cognitive skills in multilevel planning and in the regulation of behavior.
• Bullying and Autism Spectrum Disorder In fact, bullying as a social phenomenon can be characterized as a social and interaction issue; therefore, it is possible to analyze the connection between autism and acts of bullying and inappropriate behavior.
• Aspects of Autism Spectrum Disorder Overall, for children with autism spectrum disorder, it is quite complicated to learn the norms within society around them, as they are having difficulties comprehending other people’s emotions and behavior.
• Face Emotion Recognition in Autism Phenotype One critical aspect of social communication is the capability to apprehend the emotions and intentions of another person. In conclusion, Autism Spectrum Disorder makes the interpretation of facial expressions difficult.
• How Does Having a Child With Autism Affects Parents’ Lifestyle? The creation of a system of psychological, pedagogical and social support can reduce the risk of a complete family life dedication to a child with autism.
• Misrepresentation of Autism in the ‘Music’ Film While the film was not centered on the topic of autism as its message, the stereotype-heavy portrayal and a lack of research make it a harmful piece of media.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Prevalence and Impact in Society It has therefore been impossible to determine the level of increase in autism cases that is as a result of improved diagnostic measures and that which can be attributed to the real increase in autism […]
• Autism Spectrum Disorder: Diagnosis, Impact, Treatment The main diagnostic element for ASD is the evidence of difficulties, either in the present or past, which are different across the age groups.
• Autism and Vaccination Refusal Management Among Somalian Parents Somalian parents in their community in Minnesota refuse from their children being vaccinated, as they believe that vaccination causes autism.
• Everyone Has the Power to Effect Positive Change Within the Autism Community This paper presents what is autism, how every one reacts to the problem, what is the difference between the rich and the poor in their response towards the problem.”Autism is one of five developmental disorders […]
• Autism Spectrum Disorder: Key Points The requirement to meet these needs is supported by the fact that the rate of students with ASD is high: according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, more than 83 per cent of […]
• “Theoretical Aspects of Autism” by Helen Ratajczak On the whole, it is possible to say that the standards set by Austin Hill cannot be always met, in part because the physiological aspects of this disease have not been fully investigated.
• Dr. Temple Grandin’s Argument on Visual Thinking and Autism A more in-depth analysis of visual activities can reveal the all imagery can be mentally processed and modified by children so that images are rotated and analyzed to make the brain map expand.
• Intellectual Disability: Autism In their adulthood, and because of the communication issues that most individuals with autism tend to have, they will naturally have difficulty in finding and keeping jobs.
• Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Children With Autism On the positive side, it fastens the production of different types of reactive oxygen used in the body. It is arguable that the size of the samples used in the study was small.
• Occupational Therapy for Children With Autism The main reason for the appearance of autism is the disturbance of the development of the patients brain which results in the appearance of various symptoms.
• The Mitochondria and Autism – Results and Main Function The results are important in health because children with autism were more probable to have dysfunctions and abnormalities of the mitochondria such as over replication and deletion of mitochondrial DNA compared to those without the […]
• Autism Etiology, Symptoms, Beliefs, and Management To date, debate on the cause or etiology of autism still remains divided, with extant literature demonstrating that “although many hypotheses have been proposed, a singular or specific combination of causes has yet to be […]
• Quantitative Assessment of Neuromotor Function in Adolescents With High Functioning Autism: Critique The study authors did not give the benefits and/or risks associated with the study participation. The authors indicated that the ZNA was appropriate for collecting the data because it could measure the 11 parameters of […]
• Critical Appraisal on the Impact of Autism Spectrum Disorders on the Family: A Qualitative Study of Mothers’ Perspectives The study researchers established the significance of the study by outlining the social and financial implications of taking care of children with ASD.
• Autism: External Forces, Causes and Treatment The increasing prevalence of Autism in the United States and across the world is attracting great attention from the healthcare sector to design critical programs tailored to stem the disorder in terms of prevention, treatment, […]
• The Importance of Services for Children With Autism The plea of the majority of Americans for the reverse of healthcare budget allocation is well because it is wrong to interfere with services offered to children with autism. With childcare initiative in place, the […]
• Autism: General Information and Treatment She argues that the treatment of autism is through scientific proven medication that aids in controlling aggressive behaviors and that Trisperidone is the commonly used antipsychotic.
• The Issue of Autism: Task-Group Project The role of B.N.in the meeting can be seen as a summarizer, providing a summary of the minutes of the previous meeting.
• Concepts of Autism and Williams Syndrome The disorder manifests itself in the early years of a child’s life, with long-lasting effects that are not curable but controllable and easy to deal with on condition that, the concerned parties take the necessary […]
• Autism Programs to Enhance Students’ Outcomes In addition to social and behavioral challenges, ASD typically hinders a learner’s ability to gain and process the necessary academic information.
• Autism Program’s Impact Across Contexts In other words, a detailed overview of the issues that administrators face when designing the program and which the teachers have to deal with when addressing the needs of children with autism must be carried […]
• Autism: Teaching Plan for Taking All the Features Into Account For the first child, caregiver training was done at child’s bedroom, and for the second child it was done at living room, and for the third child with severe mental retardation it was carried out […]
• Education Considerations for Students With Autism Two articles under consideration consider the opposite views regarding the education of students with autism; on the basis of the information obtained from these articles, it can be stated that none of the perspectives is […]
• Autism Spectrum Disorders: Diagnostic Procedure In general, this journal is very interesting and it is an important contribution to the development of appropriate screening and identification procedures for children with ASD.
• Developmental Psychology: Autism and Vaccination Vaccination of infants is widely used today as the pattern of endemic diseases can be explained in terms of interplay of social, physical and biological factors in an area that is conducive to a continuous […]
• Proposal for the Organization of the Concert in Autism Support The paper will be focused on the organizational aspects of the autism support concert and the people to be invited to this meeting attendance.
• The Development of Autism Analysis The paper will disclose the interviews of this famous and significant person whom managed to give all her efforts to the development of autism charitable programs and contribute to autism support all over the world. […]
• Autism and Immunization: Vaccines and the Changing Epidemiology The interest and attention invoked by this paper were largely due to the fact that it appeared to provide a biological means through which MMR vaccine resulted in autism.
• Do Vaccinations Cause Autism in Children? Autism is defined by the Autism Society of America as ” a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first 3 years of life and is the result of a neurological disorder that affects […]
• Autism. Child and Family Assessment The other common disorder associated with autism is that of mutism whereby it also lies under the category of speech disorder and in many cases it is difficult to be diagnosed and at the same […]
• Autism and False Belief in Psychology The theories are found to be covering the deficits of an individuals’ mind and factors relating to autism, research further indicates that a child’s behavior may be influenced by the executive functions this, therefore, brings […]
• Autism Spectrum Disorder and Interventions However, the negative side of it is that such an intervention is limited to those patients who are verbal and have limited vocabulary.
• Autism: Methods of Diagnosing and Treatment Analysis A malfunction in the neural circuitry of the brain of those with autism is the likely cause of their perceptions regarding social interaction and lack of adequate cognitive abilities.
• Autism: Symptoms, Forms, Diagnostic Instruments Autism is basically a developmental disorder of the human brain that its first symptoms are initially manifested in infancy and it follows a steady cause without relapse.
• Mercury, Vaccines and Autism: One Controversy, Three Histories In due course of time, the emergence of organomercurials as effective agents in combating bacterial contamination of vaccines slowly resulted in the research on and inclusion of thimerosal, a white crystalline powder in the form […]
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Features in Children One of the causes for the appearance of these issues is an inborn disability that might presuppose the need for specific methods to educate a child and guarantee a chance for integration with society.
• Autism Occurrence by Measles Vaccine Status The organization of information in the text follows a logical format by introducing the background for the vaccine, incorporating the issue of ASD connection, and leading up to the primary research question.
• Parental Report of Vaccine Receipt in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder In the introduction, which is the first section, the study’s research problems and their significance to nursing are stated. The discussion section covers how the authors relate the findings to the research objective and the […]
• Teenagers With Autism Disorder Autism is seen as a spectrum disorder since its severity and symptoms vary greatly among affected individuals – from mild and occasional to persistent and interfering with all aspects of life.
• Impact of Autism Spectrum Disorders on Life However, between the ages of two and three, his lack of verbal activity and inability to “echo” simple sounds and syllables were found to be very concerning by the family.
• Risperidone in Children With Autism: ANOVA Article The variables used in the article are sufficient for the investigation, and they would not be changed. The study authors assume that risperidone and placebo treatments would have significant variations in the mental abilities of […]
• Autism Should Not Be Viewed as a Disability A good example is that the treatment of autism as a mental disorder makes it possible for pharmaceutical companies and clinics to invent new health systems or procedures that will meet the needs of the […]
• Autism Spectrum and Features of Health Conditions Nevertheless, the manifestations of the autism spectrum also depend on the intellectual abilities of the person and his or her age.
• Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder For instance, the researchers have reviewed the findings by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the Government Accountability Office to present the statistics on children with ASD and the increase in the number […]
• Autism: Main Symptoms and Research Major symptoms of the disorder are repetitive behavior, abnormal communication development, and motor skills development. Major symptoms of autism are repetitive behavior, abnormal motor skills, and communication development.
• Autist Student’s Behavior and Remedial Plan In the process of reading, I would pay attention to the student’s concentration and ability to integrate what she was reading. She also took long in doing this and did not want to stop the […]
• Autism Treatment, Its Methods and Results It was appropriate to focus on the use of the DSE intervention and examine if addressed most of the challenges facing many ASD patients.
• The Physiological Impact of Autism on Children and Parents It is possible to speak about the physiological impact of ASD on children and their parents in the UK, and the detailed examination of this issue is required. To review the literature on possible barriers […]
• Autism Spectrum Disorder: Programs Effectiveness The purpose of this PE, therefore, is to evaluate and analyze the efficiency of the programs implemented by the Day Support Services.
• Autism: Characteristics, Prevalence and Interventions The symptoms of autism are noticeable in the early years of childhood. Occupational therapy is one of the non-educational interventions used to assist kids with autism.
• Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders The main goal of this paper is to present a review of relevant literature addressing the issue of helping college students with ASD prepare for workforce readiness and job placement.
• Autism Treatment Network in the PEACE Program In order to use these resources in PEACE, it is necessary to establish a budget that will cover expenditures on training courses for specialists involved in the program, educational materials, seminars, and individual counseling.
• Association Between Vaccination and Autism The study examined whether there is a link between the toxic effects of exposure to thimerosal-containing vaccines and the risk of developing ASD.
• Olfaction and Autism Spectrum Disorder Relationship These findings reveal that the sniff test can reveal both the presence and severity of ASD in young children. The link between ASD and olfaction can be used in diagnosing young children with autism.
• Vaccination Contrubution to Autism Development This anxiety has led to a civic health dispute about the civil liberties of parents to decide whether to vaccinate their children, along with the state regulation on vaccinations to guard the wellbeing of its […]
• Abu Dhabi Autism Center The Abu Dhabi Autism Center has to operate within the laws and regulations of the Zayed Higher Organization for Humanitarian Care and Special Needs.
• Applied Behavior Analysis Treatment for Autism It is the most commonly applied autism treatment remedy in the United States and several other countries in the world and the major method that schools and therapists embrace and use.
• Involving Adults With Autism Plus Learning Disability Since the method is interviewing, a particular aspect of the study that should be addressed with attention is the researchers’ perspective.
• Inclusive Education: Child With Autism and Spina Bifida It is worth mentioning that Ted’s mother is willing to cooperate with teachers, and her participation can be of great assistance to the teacher.
• Bright Not Broken: Gifted Kids, ADHD, and Autism It is possible to state that the book provides rather a high-quality review of the issues about the identification, education, and upbringing of the 2e children.
• Case Law and Case Study of a Student With Autism On reviewing the evaluation results in the presence of the student’s mother, an agreement was reached on the general education placement for the student.
• Children With Autism’ Communication in Saudi Arabia Parents of children with autism in Saudi Arabia have complained that the government has neglected the needs of autistic children by failing to finance their education and research to detect the effectiveness of the digital […]
• Autism Spectrum Disorders: Testing and Measurement It will begin with the rationale that explain why the issues are critical, followed by the reasons for unavailability of the solutions to the issues and the consequences of the issues.
• Autism Spectrum Disorders and Educational Interventions From this point, this paper aims to discuss the definition of Autism Spectrum Disorders, examine the etiology and incidence of the disorder, focus on the prevalence of autism, and analyze the effectiveness of the DTT […]
• Autism Expressed: Branding Strategy and Marketing The promise that the brand offers to the public should be in line with the desires of the clients. This firm will need to prepare this branding strategy in a way that will meet its […]
• Vaccines and Autism: Separating Facts From Fiction The advocacy groups say that thimerosal, a preservative used in vaccines, is toxic to the central nervous system and responsible for an alarming rise in rates of autism among children in the United States and […]
• Self-Injury in Autism: Applied Behavior Analysis Applied behavior analysis incorporates the utilization of direct perception, estimation, and useful investigation of the relations in the middle of the environment and conduct.
• Lesson for Learners With Autism: Reflection Observation The essay identifies the instructional methods used by the teacher during the exercise. The teacher also guided the learners to solve the mathematical problems using different visual objects.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Concept Besides, Temple often explores her own experiences and attempts to understand the feelings of others that are unavailable to her by visualizing herself as other creatures people and animals.
• Dubai Autism Center’ Quality Management TQM employs strategies and effective communication within the organization to incorporate the quality principles into the culture and activities of the organization to ensure that all the activities are geared towards satisfying the customers.
• Vaccination and Autism in Children The problem with this case is that while it may be true that the cause for the development of autism in children have yet to be fully determined, the fact remains that there have been […]
• Video Modeling for Individuals With Autism The video model will be developed according to the needs of autistic children, with the focus on the role of visual and auditory stimuli in the teaching process.
• The Effects of Vaccines on Autism From their study, the findings demonstrate that the presence of thimerosal is one of the causes of the disorder. It is imperative to state that they have used many studies that have indicated that there […]
• Vaccination as a Cause Autism This paper borrows on the arguments of Monica Prasad and Washington and Haydn when they argue that the belief about vaccinations as a primary cause of autism stems from emotional, psychological, and behavioral barriers, as […]
• Youth With Autism Disorder: Education and Employment This includes the communication patterns of the teenager, the extent of social relations and the unusual behavioral characteristics of the teenager in the environment.
• Autism Children Education Inclusion Policy in Private Schools: Compulsory Enrollment Policy 2011 The following are the main areas will be addressed by the policy: Prohibited Private schools will be prohibited from ignoring the needs of children suffering from autism; they will be compelled by the act to […]
• Autism: Pathogenesis and Intervention Similarly, a person with autism has to be trained on the process of communicating normally and forming a relationship with objects, events and people in their lives.
• The Real Causes of Autism However, the main problem is that this association or correlation does not imply that autism is triggered by a vaccine. This is the main argument that can be put forward.
• Autism Effect on Children It is crucial to understand the behavior of children with autism in the school set up in order to understand how autism affects children and their social interactions. It is up to the teacher to […]
• Autism and Its Effects on Social Interaction The article “Social Impairment in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder” identifies the major challenges facing many people with autism. The authors wanted to examine the social problems and difficulties encountered by individuals with Autism Spectrum […]
• Older Dads More Likely to Have Kids With Autism The author highlights autism as one of the main outcomes of late fatherhood following the release of the results of a study involving the counting of the mutations corresponding to a father’s age at the […]
• Evidenced-Based Practice: Autism Management in Children Autism largely is connected to communication abilities of a child, a situation that later results into the child experiencing disability problems in effectively encoding and decoding communicative messages.
• Miami Dance Project for Autistic Children For me, what the Miami dance project represents is in line with what is known as the concept of confidence building wherein through the development of certain talents children with autism will begin to have […]
• Program Models in Autism The DTT technique has been designed in such a way as to target the individual behavior of an autistic child using the available curriculum.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder in Relation to Education Attending to students having ASD in the regular classrooms requires specialized teachers and supplementary staff in order to aid in the realization of the needs of the students having ASD.
• Critical Analysis of Published Articles: Autism It was therefore the goal of the research to find out if the negative attitude of people towards autistic children can be altered to the benefit of the parents.
• Autism in Saudi Arabia This support may come in the form of modification of the curriculum to cater for the special needs of the autistic children.
• Analysis of Autism Disorder This disorder affects the brain of the child during growth so that it does not develop in the right way thus affecting the social and communication skills of the child. This is especially to the […]
• One-To-One Programs: Supporting Autistic Children The purpose of conducting this essay will be to examine the educational intervention of one-to-one support programs during normal school times within a mainstream classroom and also to discuss the challenges faced by teachers and […]
• Psychological Disorders and Their Treatment: An Overview of the Recent Progress and the Current Challenges in Treating Autism in Children In the given paper, the issue of psychological disorders is being addressed in reference to the ideas expressed in Chapter 11 “Psychological Disorders” in Carole Wade and Carol Tavris’s Invitation to Psychology.
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• Do Vaccines Cause Autism? Thimerosal is alleged to increase the exposure of mercury in the vaccine to a substantiated high amount. In fact, the amount of antigens between children with autism and without is the same irrespective of the […]
• The Disease of Autism Origin The disorder is one of the new diagnoses of the autism. Other effects of the disorder are constipation and growth failures that may be a problem to the lives of the individual.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children and Its Impact on the Family Manning, Wainwright and Bennet argue that children with autism are faced with a big challenge because of the nature of the symptoms the disorder.
• Autism’s Teaching Tips for Children and Adults The present description is concerned with the role of teacher in the better management of Autism in children. Further, assessment of the interactive and developmental skills is on of the important component in the teacher […]
• What Are Autism Spectrum Disorders?
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• What Are the Barriers of Learning for a Learner With Autism/Aspergers in Performing Arts?
• Does Gluten Effect Children With Autism?
• What Are the Causes of Autism?
• How Does Autism Affect a Child’s Educational Performance?
• What Can Autism Look Like and Things You Can Do to Spot It?
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• What Influence Has the Development of Autism Had on a Diagnosed Individual?
• How Does Autism Affect the Development of a Child?
• Are Huddles the Missing Piece of the Puzzle in Implementing Clinical Innovation for the Eating Disorder and Autism Comorbidity?
• How Does Autism Start?
• Can Mouse Imaging Studies Bring Order to Autism Connectivity Chaos?
• How Does ‘Fake News’ Affect Autism Policy?
• Are There Any Relationships Between Latent Toxoplasma Gondii Infection, Testosterone Elevation, and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder?
• How Do People With Autism Experience the World?
• Can Robotic Systems Promote Self-Disclosure in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder?
• How Did the Media Perpetuate the Autism-Vaccine Scare?
• Are There Cultural Differences in Parental Interest in Early Diagnosis and Genetic Risk Assessment for Autism Spectrum Disorder?
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• Does Autism Spectrum Disorder Affect People All Around the World?
• Is There a Correlation Between Epigenetics and Autism Spectrum Disorder?
• How Does Autism Affect Regular Brain Functions as Well as Socialization Skills?
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• How Can Parents and Family Members Be Supported/Educated to Care For and Better Understand an Autistic Relative?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Jackie Schuld Art Therapy Blog

• Feb 17, 2023

The Great List of Autistic Essays

I’m a late-identified autistic who loves writing about autism. How much do I love it? I’ve written over 150 essays on it in the past six months alone.

How do I think of so many autistic topics to write about? I’m an art therapist who specializes in late-identified autistic adults. That means I not only have my personal experience to draw from, but also the hundreds of hours spent listening to my clients.

I share most of my essays here on Medium, which means it has now become quite the library. In an effort to make my essays more accessible to those wanting clear, relatable information about late-identified autism in adults, I’ve sorted my essays into topics below. While I wish I could provide a link to each of them for you… I’ve got to prioritize my time and energy. So if a specific essay interests you, just pop it into the search and it’ll come up

Autism in a Neurotypical World

What Would a World Designed by Autistic People Be Like

The Harm in "They're a Little Autistic"

Autism Does Not Directly Cause Socializing Problems

Please Trust My Lived Autistic Experience

Can Someone Please Create a Neurodivergent Intentional Living Community

What if I Accept that Most Neurotypicals Won't Like Me

How Neuro-Bias Shows Up in Professional Testing

Your Autistic Experience Sounds Just LIke my Neurotypical One

Neurotypical Words that Don't Work for Autistics: Overachiever

But Neurotypicals Experience That, Too!

Neurotypical Norms That Don’t Work for Autistics: Hustle Goals

The Fear of Being a Hypocritical Autistic

Neurodiversity: Us vs Them?

How to Meet an Autistic Adult Exactly Where They're At

Autism Characteristics

The Autistic Mind Loves to Take Detours

4 Reasons Why Autism Symptoms Lists are Confusing

My Autistic Brain: Sunshine and Detours

The Joys of Being Autistic: Part 1

Stop Saying Autistic People Can't Empathize

Redefining Fun for Autistic Adults

9 Reasons Why Autism Looks So Similar to CPTSD

We Need More Depictions of the Interior Experience of Autism

Clarity is What my Autistic Mind Craves

How Trauma and Autism Can be a Confusing Mix to Decipher

Why am I like This? Understanding the Autistic Brain

My Autistic Mind Does What it Wants

The Dissociated Autistic Performance State

The Joys of Being Autistic: Increased Creativity and Innovation

My Autistic Memory Is Not the Same as Others

The Firehouse Dilemma: Autism and Infodumping

The Variability of the Autistic Sensory System

5 Reasons Autistics are Especially Hard on Themselves

The Shame That Often Accompanies Autism

Knowing You’re Different as an Autistic Adult

3 Reasons Autism is Worse After You Learn You're Autistic

Disability and Internalized Ableism

I Had to Dismantle My Fear of Autistic People

Is Autism a Disability?

I’m Ok With Saying I have a Disability, Right?

Dog Training

The Difficulties of Adjusting to a New Dog When You're Autistic

Tips for Adjusting to a New Dog When You're Autistic

5 Tips to Integrate a Dog into Your Autistic Life

Defining and Explaining Autism

What I Wish Others Knew About Autism

Let’s Drop the “Disorder” From Autism Spectrum Disorder

How Low and High Autism Labels are Misleading

We Need All the Autism Theories and Models

Autism Can Be a Murky Thing To Understand

How I Explain Autism to Someone Unfamiliar With It

What is Late Identified Autism

Autistic Statistics are Not Accurate for Late-Identified Autistics

I'm Here for the Autistic Awakening

How It Helps to Know You’re Autistic

Why It Matters to Know You're Neurodivergent

What is Neurodiversity and Why Does it Matter

How Neurodivergent Acceptance Can Improve Our Lived Experiences

How Unidentified Autistics are Taught to Socially Camouflage and Mask

Is There a World Where I can Be Unmasked?

The False Dichotomy of Masked and Unmasked Autism

6 Reasons Why UnMasking Is Harder Than it Sounds

What if You have to Mask Everywhere?

My Personal Experience as an Autistic

Hating Cooking as an Autistic Adult

I Make Giant Lists About Autism for Fun

The Challenges of Writing Publically About Autism

The Risk of Sharing my Autistic Passions with Others

I'm Reclaiming Weird for My Autistic Self

I Expand and Then I Contract

I Stopped Seeing Myself As Broken When I learned I was Autistic

Respecting my Limits as an Autistic Business Owner

I Need to Lessen the Pressure on my Autistic Self

My Autistic Brain Doesn’t Want to Watch TV Right Now

Embracing Who I am as an Autistic Adult

I Used to be a Very Judgemental When I Didn’t Know I was Autistic

A Letter from An Autistic Adult to Trust

Don’t Get So Upset: A Line that Doesn’t Work for This Autist

Why This Autistic Writer Didn't Respond to Your Comment

Relationships

Is Dating Worth it as an Autistic Adult?

Is it Possible to be Happily Partnered as an Autistic Adult?

Not Liking People as an Autistic Adult

Self-Identification

So You Think You Might Be Autistic

Dearly Newly Identified Autistic Person

Am I Actually Autistic?

Dearest Smart, Weird, and Caring Autistic

I Am Deeply Unsure About Autism

How to Self Identify Autism as an Adult

When the Past Makes Sense after a Late-Identification of Autism

Where to Start When You First Learn You’re Autistic

6 Strategies to Harness the Hyperfocus Power of an Autistic Mind

Leave the Gremlin In the Cave: Self-Isolation as a Necessary Autistic Tool

No Plans Days as an Autistic Tool

Making Accommodations for Myself as an Autistic Adult

How Many Accommodations Can We Ask for as Autistic Adults?

Using Art to Help Your Autistic Mind

Dissociation as an Autistic Tool

The Power of the Home Environment for Autistics

Is It Ok to Honor My Autistic Needs?

Recognizing When It's Not Time to Make Decisions as an Autistic

Therapy for Autistics

Dearest Autistic Client of Mine

8 Ways Therapy Can Help With Late Identified Autism

Gaslighting the Autistic Experience

Dearest Therapist Who Knows Barely Anything About Autism

I'm an Autistic Therapist: Sometimes It's Easier Than Everyday Life

Does Your Therapist Know Enough About Autism to Help You?

Questions to Ask a Potential Therapist When You're Autistic

How I Work with Newly Identified Autistic People

What to Ask When You're Seeking Therapy for Late-Identified Autism

12 Ways Therapy Can Enhance Life for Late Identified Autistic Adults

Therapy is Not for Fixing Autism

The Harm I Caused When I Didn't Know about Autism

A Newly Identified Autistic Therapist Working with Newly Identified Autistics

Common Therapy Advice That is Counterproductive for Autistics

A Therapist Told Me Treating Autism is Like Treating Depression

Who Can Diagnose Autism in Adults?

Autistic Adults Deserve Better from the Mental Health Field

Undiagnosed Autism

The Correlation Between Intelligence and Undiagnosed Autism

10 Consequences of a Life with Unidentified Autism

The Gap Between “Diagnosable Autism” and a Lifetime of Unidentified Autism

Autism Diagnosis Criteria are Limiting for Men Too

No Autistic Should Receive a Diagnosis Letter Like Mine

Identifying Autism in Undiagnosed Women Abstract

How I Identify Autism in Undiagnosed Women

Autistic Stereotypes Block People From Knowing They're Autistic

Thank you for reading. If you’d like to read more, sign up for my FUNletter . If you would like to explore your autistic identity with an autistic therapist, you can learn more about my therapy services here .

Recent Posts

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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

The relationship between psychopathy and autism: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.

• 1 School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom
• 2 Centre for Research in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (CIDD), University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
• 3 Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership National Health Service (NHS) Trust, Coventry, United Kingdom
• 4 Worcestershire Health and Care National Health Service (NHS) Trust, Worcester, United Kingdom

Background and methods: The aim of this systematic review was to synthesise research examining the relationship between autism and psychopathy to: (a) better understand the relationship between these two constructs, and (b) describe the clinical manifestation of the two when they co-occur. A systematic search of the literature returned 36 studies.

Results: Across all ages, autistic individuals and those with elevated autistic traits but no autistic diagnoses appeared to have increased callous and unemotional traits or psychopathy relative to the general population. Several studies evidenced that although both constructs are associated with empathetic dysfunction, the underlying mechanisms differ. In adults, psychopathy/psychopathic traits were associated with diminished affective empathy and intact cognitive empathy, whilst the opposite was seen autistic adults and those with elevated autistic traits. In children, those with autistic traits or a diagnosis of autism had diminished cognitive empathy, but not affective empathy, while the relationship between callous and unemotional traits/psychopathy and empathy amongst children was less clear. The co-occurrence of autism and psychopathy was seen to lead to additional empathic and cognitive impairment, but findings were mixed making it challenging to clearly describe the clinical manifestation.

Conclusion: There remains a paucity of research investigating the interaction between autism and psychopathy and included studies were characterised by multiple measurement difficulties. Attention should be directed toward developing better methods for identifying psychopathic traits in autistic individuals to advance our understanding of the relationship between autism and psychopathy to allow for the development of appropriate care pathways for this population.

Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=413672 , identifier CRD42023413672.

1 Introduction

1.1 autism, psychopathy and criminality.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by social and communication deficits and restricted or repetitive patterns of behaviour ( 1 ), with prevalence currently estimated as one in 100 ( 2 ). Aggression is not a core symptom of autism but rates of aggression in autistic children and adolescents range from 25% ( 3 ) to 53% ( 4 ). This aspect of autism has been growing in interest with research increasingly focusing on the relationship between autism and psychopathy.

Psychopathy is characterised by shallow emotional response, a diminished capacity for empathy or remorse, callousness, and poor behavioural control ( 5 , 6 ). Prevalence in the general population is estimated at 4.5%, with a higher prevalence among offenders ( 7 ). It has long been associated with criminal and violent behaviour and is a key predictor of recidivism ( 8 ). Psychopathy can be categorised into primary and secondary psychopathy; primary psychopathy results from largely genetic and biological influences, and secondary psychopathy is related to adverse environmental factors (such as developmental trauma/maltreatment) ( 9 ). Primary psychopathy is associated with increased emotionally stability, fearlessness, and being more self-assured than secondary psychopathy, which is often associated with greater psychopathology. As children and young people are still developing, they are not considered capable of presenting with psychopathy; instead, a precursor is observed, referred to as callous and unemotional traits [CUTs; ( 10 )].

Whilst the link between psychopathy and criminality is well evidenced ( 11 ), the relationship between autism and criminality is less clear. Collins et al. ( 12 ) reported that criminality rates amongst those with autism ranged from 0.2% ( 13 ) to 62.8% ( 14 ) within their systematic review, indicating an overrepresentation of autism amongst offenders. Despite this, the review suggested that there is little evidence that autistic individuals have an increased risk of committing crimes, highlighting methodological limitations which impacted the reliability of conclusions. It was hypothesised that social communication difficulties may make autistic individuals more likely to be viewed as risky, encounter the criminal justice system, and receive custodial sentences.

1.2 The role of empathy

Autism and psychopathy are both characterised by empathic dysfunction which plays a role in their behavioural phenotypes, and whilst they may appear to share surface similarities, the underlying difficulties may differ ( 15 ). Empathy involves understanding and sharing others’ emotions, thoughts or feelings and can be divided into cognitive (understanding thoughts and feelings) and affective (sharing emotional experiences) empathy ( 15 ). It has been proposed that autistic people struggle with cognitive empathy but not affective empathy, whereas the opposite is found within psychopathy ( 16 – 18 ).

Cognitive empathy requires theory of mind (ToM)/perspective taking skills, and together with affective empathy both are required when making moral decisions ( 19 ). Autistic people who have difficulties with cognitive empathy may inadvertently cause harm to others due to difficulty interpreting the behaviour of others ( 20 ), while individuals with psychopathy are more likely to engage in criminality and have difficulties with affective empathy and emotion recognition, but present with intact ToM skills ( 15 , 21 ). Those with psychopathy are thought to have difficulties with recognising aversive emotions in others (e.g., fear and sadness) resulting from deficits in amygdala and orbital/ventrolateral frontal cortex function ( 22 ) and these difficulties interfere with learning and subsequent avoidance. For example, fearfulness is aversive, and if attenuated, an individual may behave in self-gratifying manner without concern about the consequence as they experience no fear of negative consequences for themselves or others. There is also evidence of difficulties with recognising non-aversive emotions ( 23 ) which may be related to difficulties with attention allocation to the eyes of others ( 24 ). Diminished affective empathy, paired with the ability to mentalise, enables psychopaths to successfully manipulate others for personal gain ( 15 ). This contrasts with autistic individuals who experience aversive emotions if they believe they have caused harm ( 20 ). Therefore, although both autism and psychopathy are characterised by empathic dysfunction, behaviour and decision-making are very different and driven by distinct empathetic pathways.

1.3 Aims and rationale

Little is known about the co-existence of autism and psychopathy. Rogers et al. ( 25 ), proposed the ‘double hit’ hypothesis, whereby autistic individuals may also show additional impairments in empathy, best explained by the presence of psychopathy as a distinct and additional disorder. However, research in this area is limited. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to systematically review the literature to: (a) understand the relationship between psychopathy and autism, and (b) to describe the clinical manifestation of the two constructs when they co-occur. Studies examining this relationship are critical in furthering our knowledge of this small but clinically significant population group and may help to inform the types of interventions appropriate for those who meet the criteria for both constructs, and especially those who encounter criminal justice as a consequence of their behaviour. The review will encompass traits of each disorder to reflect the spectrum nature of both constructs. Research on children with CUTs (considered a pre-cursor to adult psychopathy) will be included because early identification can help prevent serious risk through successful early intervention.

This systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines ( 26 ) and was registered with PROSPERO (registration number CRD42023413672).

2.1 Search strategy

Relevant studies were identified by systematic searching of the following databases: PsychINFO; CINAHL Ultimate; Medline Ultimate. Google Scholar was also searched and backward searching of identified papers was completed. Grey literature was searched through www.opengrey.eu . Initial searches were undertaken in March 2023 and completed in April 2023. Key terms were searched using English and American terminology, spelling, and truncation to ensure that all variant word endings were identified. Search terms were combined using the term ‘AND’ , Table 1 .

Table 1 Summary of search terms.

To ensure searches produced relevant results only, the above search terms were restricted to title only and a further specified term of ‘NOT psychopathology’ was included within the title or abstract. This was because initial searches without this clarification produced multiple inapplicable results. Searches were restricted to English language and academic journals or dissertations, in line with the eligibility criteria below, Table 2 .

Table 2 Eligibility criteria.

Due to limited research in this area, no limiters or restrictions were placed upon study design or study date.

2.2 Screening and article selection

Article selection was completed by author KM, with 30% of search results also screened by an independent, masked, second rater (HW), with an interrater agreement of 100%. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) ( 26 ) guidance was used to refine studies and can be seen in Figure 1 which details article selection. First, duplicates were electronically removed using EBSCO. Abstracts were then screened against the eligibility criteria and results were rejected which did not meet criteria. This included book chapters or papers not specifically looking at both autism and psychopathy in some manner. Full text screening of remaining articles was then completed.

Figure 1 PRISMA diagram showing screening and identification of eligible studies ( 27 ).

3.1 Data extraction

The following data were extracted from each paper: author and country, study population and participant characteristics, measure of autism/psychopathy/CUTs administered and main findings. These data were considered relevant to either quality appraisal of the studies or relevant for synthesis of findings in relation research question. Thirty percent of papers were checked by HW, with an inter-rater agreement of 88%. All disagreements were resolved through discussion.

3.2 Quality appraisal

Prior to evidence synthesis, a critical appraisal of the literature is required to enable a judgement about bias and subsequent effectiveness. Study quality was assessed using the ‘Checklist for Analytical Cross-Sectional Studies’ ( 28 ). This tool is used to assess the methodological quality of each included study and assess sources of bias. One included study ( 29 ) was a longitudinal cohort study and therefore the ‘Checklist for Cohort Studies’ was used instead ( 30 ). These tools are recognised as a reliable tool for use in systematic reviews to evaluate variation in study designs and methodology ( 31 ). Again, 30% of papers were checked by HW, with an inter-rater agreement of 82% and disagreements resolved through discussion.

3.3 Synthesis

A narrative synthesis approach was adopted due to the broad spectrum of included research. This was conducted in line with guidance by Popay et al. ( 32 ), who describe this technique as a synthesis of studies relying on the use of words to summarise and explain findings.

4.1 Study settings and sample size

Of the 214 papers identified during initial searches, 92 duplicates were removed, 71 were not relevant and 13 were reviews or editorial pieces. The full text article was unavailable for one paper, and another was theoretical only, leaving 36 studies that met the eligibility criteria and were included, Figure 1 . Table 3 shows 22 studies that recruited children and Table 4 shows 14 studies that included adult participants.

Table 3 Studies investigating the relationship between psychopathy/ callous unemotional traits and autism/autistic traits in children.

Table 4 Studies Investigating the Relationship Between Psychopathy/Psychopathic Traits and Autism/Autistic Traits in Adults.

Studies were conducted in 11 Western countries: UK (17), USA (5), Netherlands (3), Sweden (2), Finland (2), Cyprus (2), Spain (1), Switzerland (1), Germany (1), Portugal (1) and Australia (1). Twenty studies recruited from community settings, including schools and universities, and a further five were recruited from existing cohort/longitudinal studies. Five studies recruited from clinical settings such as child behaviour clinics and six recruited from forensic settings. One study focused specifically on sex offenders ( 43 ). Sample sizes ranged from seven ( 43 ), in an unpublished thesis, to several thousand in large scale twin studies ( 46 , 88 ).

4.2 Participant characteristics

A total of 12115 children were recruited across the included studies, including 6654 males and 5461 females. Of these, 746 had primary diagnoses of autism, autistic traits, or were identified as being at familial risk of autism, although many also had co-morbid diagnoses or additional behavioural difficulties. Three hundred and nineteen were considered to have oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder/problems, CUT or psychopathic traits, whilst 11032 were either identified as typically developing or no information was provided. Eighteen participants only had a diagnosis of ADHD. A total of 1888 adults were recruited across our included studies, including 1133 males, 752 females and 3 people who identified as non-binary. Of these, 163 had diagnoses of autism or had autistic traits, 80 had psychopathic traits and the remaining were either considered typically developing or the information was not provided.

Twenty-four studies included males and females, whereas 12 only recruited males. Participant age ranged from seven months ( 29 ) to 63 years ( 71 ). One study included participants with intellectual disability ( 65 ), and three studies included those with mixed ability levels: Leno et al. ( 41 ) reported a mean IQ of 84.7, Leno et al. ( 40 ) reported a mean IQ of 72.5, and Soderstrom et al. ( 75 ) reported that 17% of participants had an IQ below 70.

4.3 Quality appraisal

Quality appraisal ratings are found in Tables 1 and 2 . Scores ranged from two to eight, with five fulfilling the full criteria ( 17 , 39 , 70 – 72 ). An unpublished thesis ( 43 ), scored two out of eight. This low score was due to the small sample size (N=7) meaning that the statistical analysis was judged as inappropriate, whilst there was little information on eligibility criteria, confounding variables or appropriateness of the measures used.

4.4 Measurement tools

Some studies involved administering a gold standard diagnostic tool to participants including the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) ( 89 ) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) ( 50 ), while two studies did not confirm existing diagnoses ( 16 , 48 ), although both had large sample sizes, making this a time-consuming exercise. Commonly used measures of autistic traits were the Autism Quotient (AQ), the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), and the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). These were considered reliable and valid measures, and appropriate screening tools. Research has shown that screening tools are not entirely predictive of diagnosis ( 90 ), making it important to differentiate between autistic traits and a formal diagnosis of autism across studies.

There was large variation in the measurement of psychopathy/CUTs. Many studies used the Inventory of Callous Unemotional Traits (ICU) ( 59 ), which is a 24-item scale designed to measure CUTs in children. Whilst this is a well-researched and validated measure (see Cardinale and Marsh ( 10 ) for a review), no study has validated its use in autistic children. Several studies used this measure ( 34 , 37 , 40 , 47 , 65 ). Other researchers ( 16 , 25 , 41 ) administered the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) ( 53 ), measuring the wider construct of psychopathy in young people, but again, this has not been validated for use with autistic children. Rogers et al. ( 25 ), acknowledged this and confirmed that the APSD positively correlated with conduct problems as expected, suggesting convergent validity.

The authors of three studies ( 72 , 75 , 76 ) administered the Psychopathy Check List-Revised (PCL-R) ( 6 ), which is considered to be a gold standard tool. All other studies relied on self-report measures of psychopathy, which should be viewed critically as psychopathic individuals tend to lack insight into the nature of their psychopathology ( 91 ). Additionally, using self-report measures with those known to be manipulative and deceptive increases the risk of response bias ( 92 ). Research about the reliability and validity of self-report measures of psychopathy in autistic people is lacking. There is evidence that self-report personality measures used with autistic children are questionable ( 93 ), and three of the included studies used a psychopathy self-report measure with children ( 39 , 43 , 48 ). Vilas et al. ( 48 ) acknowledged the limitations of this and administered multiple measures to circumvent this problem. The use of a single measure of psychopathy is advised against ( 91 ); however, only five studies administered multiple measures ( 34 , 43 , 48 , 72 , 76 ).

5 Autism and callous and unemotional traits in children

5.1 estimated prevalence.

Leno et al. ( 40 ) reported that 22% of autistic children scored above their designated cut off to indicate the presence of CUTs. However, some participants completed the full ICU measure and others a shortened version. Ideally, prevalence studies should include a representative sample and exclude any possible biases; the full ICU should have been administered to all participants, and their autism diagnosis confirmed. Two groups of researchers administered the ASPD, reporting different rates of CUTs. Leno et al. ( 41 ) reported that 51% of autistic adolescents fell into their category of high CUTs. In contrast, Rogers et al. ( 25 ) reported that their sample had a mean CUT score of 4.77, which is considered an ‘average’ CUT score. However, methodological differences between these studies make comparison challenging.

5.2 Autistic traits and callous and unemotional traits

Three studies ( 33 , 35 , 36 ) with large, mixed gender samples reported a positive correlation between CUTs and autistic traits ( r = .40, r = 0.60 and r = .51 respectively) amongst typically developing children. Studies reporting higher correlations recruited participants based upon having either low or high empathy levels which may have inflated the correlation.

5.3 Autism and psychopathy

Three studies made use of samples of those with an existing autism diagnosis ( 25 , 40 , 46 ). Svensson et al. ( 46 ) undertook a large twin study (N = 8762), and administered the Child Problematic Trait Inventory – Short Version to index psychopathy. They reported a significant relationship between psychopathy and autism amongst boys, r = .38, and girls, r = .33, bearing in mind that there may be validity issues with their choice of measure ( 94 ). Leno et al. ( 40 ) reported that higher CUTs were associated with more severe autistic traits, lower levels of prosocial behaviour and increased conduct problems. In contrast, Rogers et al. ( 25 ) reported no relationship between CUTs or psychopathy and autism and cognitive abilities in a much smaller study of autistic boys.

5.4 Empathy

As expected, there was evidence that autism/autistic traits and CUTs/psychopathy in children is associated with distinct empathetic profiles. Children with autistic traits demonstrated deficits in cognitive empathy with intact affective empathy ( 35 , 44 , 45 ), and the same relationship was observed in children with diagnoses of autism ( 16 , 17 , 39 , 48 ). These results appeared consistent despite the variation in the measurement of empathy and methods across studies. The relationship between CUTs/psychopathy and empathy appeared less clear; some studies reported diminished affective empathy and intact cognitive empathy ( 16 , 17 ), whilst others reported diminished affective and cognitive empathy ( 35 , 44 ).

Studies looking at the relationship between CUTs and autistic traits had contradictory results. While Pijper et al. ( 45 ) reported a negative association between CUTs and affective empathy in their sample of 10-year-old boys with conduct disorder as expected, the relationship was moderated by autistic traits; those with higher autistic traits and CUTs exhibited less impaired affective empathy. In contrast, Pasalich et al. ( 44 ) found that 5-year-old boys and girls with conduct disorder and high levels of both CUTs and autistic traits displayed the most pronounced deficits in affective empathy. These contradictory findings may be explained by: (a) sex differences: there is limited evidence that high CUTs and high autistic traits are associated with decreased affective empathy in girls only ( 35 ) and Pijper et al. ( 45 ) only included a sample of boys, and (b) difficulties with the measurement of empathy: both Georgiou et al. ( 35 ) and Pasalich et al. ( 44 ) used the Griffith Empathy Measure ( 95 ) and there is evidence that the affective empathy scale lacks construct validity ( 96 ). Age may also have impacted on these findings as there is evidence of improved performance with age on both types of empathy in all participants ( 17 ), as would be expected, and Pijper et al. ( 45 ) included older children relative to Pasalich et al. ( 44 ). Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that another study reported no relationship between age and empathy ( 35 ).

5.5 Cognitive profile

There was some evidence that psychopathy and autism are distinct constructs and the interaction of these may create a distinct cognitive profile. Bedford et al. ( 29 ) reported that reduced infant regulatory function (a precursor to executive functioning) is associated with later autistic traits but not CUTs in their longitudinal study, suggesting the two constructs are associated with differing executive functioning abilities. However, they did not include data for children older than seven years, and thus lacked information about continued development. When exploring the interaction of CUTs and autistic traits, Tye et al. ( 47 ) reported that autistic children with high CUTs exhibited enhanced conflict monitoring skills. Whilst this indicates a potentially advantageous role of CUTs on executive functioning in this group of children, the study was a small-scale preliminary study using a specific task to assess conflict monitoring, which may not be generalisable to other executive functioning skills. Two studies found that CUTs/psychopathic traits in autistic children were unrelated to the executive functioning skills associated with autism ( 25 , 41 ).

5.6 Emotion recognition

Nine studies explored emotion recognition. Ibrahim et al. ( 37 ) reported that autistic children with CUTs displayed reduced amygdala activity to fearful faces compared to those with autism only. Conversely, Rogers et al. ( 25 ) found that all autistic children demonstrated fear recognition, regardless of the presence or absence of psychopathic traits, although this study focused on the wider construct of psychopathy (not CUTs). Results for sadness differed, with Rogers et al. ( 25 ) reporting that autistic boys with high psychopathic traits had poorer sadness recognition than those with low psychopathic traits. These studies used morphed faces ( 25 ) or still pictures ( 37 ) which may not accurately reflect how emotions are viewed during in-person social interactions. Bedford et al. ( 33 ) theorised that dynamic expressions are a more accurate representation of social interactions and compared static pictures with short video clips of people performing facial expressions. They reported that CUTs in typically developing children were associated with reduced emotion recognition for static facial expressions depicting anger and happiness. This association was not observed for dynamic facial expressions and disappeared when controlling for autistic traits. In contrast, autistic traits were associated with poorer overall emotion recognition for both static and dynamic expressions. Leno et al. ( 40 ) adapted the emotion recognition stimuli from Bedford et al. ( 33 ) and investigated emotion recognition in autistic adolescents, reporting that all participants demonstrated impairment in recognition of fearful faces with no relationship with autism severity or CUTs.

Several studies investigated the role of eye gaze on emotion recognition ( 33 , 34 , 40 , 42 ). Bours et al. ( 34 ) reported that autistic adolescents and adolescents with CUTs both showed reduced fixations of the eye regions compared to typically developing adolescents. When considering the interaction of autism and CUTs, Leno et al. ( 40 ) found that CUTs in autistic adolescents was associated with longer times to identify fear and reduced eye contact during viewing of fearful faces. Leno et al. ( 42 ) then investigated the effect of cueing attention to the eyes in children with either CUTs or autistic traits, finding that this improved fear recognition in children with CUTs (no improvement in other emotions) but had the opposite effect on overall emotion recognition in their autistic trait group, suggesting different underlying mechanisms. However, the relationship between autistic traits, emotion recognition and gaze cueing was non-significant after controlling for conduct problems, emphasising the importance of considering co-occurring psychiatric traits.

Finally, Georgiou and Fanti ( 36 ) investigated the relationship between emotional recognition and physiological reactivity and reported that boys with CUTs exhibited low skin conductance reactivity during sad and fearful stimuli, whilst no associations were found amongst girls with CUTs or children of either gender with autistic traits. CUTs were associated with stronger heart reactivity to fear stimuli amongst children with low levels of autistic traits. They theorised that low skin conductance reflected fearlessness in children with CUTs, whilst stronger heart rate reflected thrill seeking. Unfortunately, the authors did not measure anxiety which may impact physiological responses.

6 Autism and psychopathy in adults

6.1 prevalence.

Barnard-Brak and Richman ( 66 ) looked at the prevalence of autistic and psychopathic traits amongst a community sample (N = 723) without a diagnosis of autism, finding that 10% met screening cut off to indicate autistic traits and 12% met screening cut off to indicate psychopathic traits; 30% of the autistic trait group also meet criteria for psychopathic traits. The study relied on brief self-report measures of autistic [AQ-10; ( 79 )] and psychopathic traits =[Dirty Dozen Scale; ( 82 )], which are not diagnostic, and findings should be viewed in the context this limitation.

6.2 The relationship between autistic and psychopathic traits

Several studies commented on the correlation between psychopathy and autism, with wide variation in the source of participants, measures, and methodology and all administering self-reports of psychopathic and autistic traits. In community samples, Barnard-Brak and Richman ( 66 ), reported a weak but significant positive corelation, r = .19, whilst other studies reported no significant correlation ( 70 , 71 ). No correlation was found between autistic and psychopathic traits in a forensic setting ( 71 ).

On the other hand, Soderstrom et al. ( 75 ) recruited violent offenders and administered the gold standard, PCL-R, and reported a significant but small positive correlation between PCL-R total, factor two (unemotionality), factor three (behavioural dyscontrol), and autistic traits. No correlation between autistic traits and factor one (interpersonal) was found. Only one study differentiated primary and secondary psychopathy, reporting a positive correlation between autistic traits and secondary psychopathy traits only ( 74 ). All the aforementioned studies measured autistic traits, and only one study recruited adults with a diagnosis of autism and intellectual disability, observing a small but significant positive relationship between autism and CUTs ( 65 ).

6.3 Empathy

Many studies recruited typically developing individuals without a diagnosis of autism and grouped them according to whether they had high or low autistic or psychopathic traits, drawing comparisons. As expected, findings indicated that psychopathic traits were associated with diminished affective empathy and intact cognitive empathy ( 18 , 73 , 77 ) whilst autistic traits are associated with reduced cognitive empathy but not affective empathy ( 18 , 69 ). Of note, these studies all recruited participants with a mean age of 20-21 years, an age at which the human brain is still developing, and therefore results may not be applicable to older adults. In one study, Oliver et al. ( 73 ) failed to find a relationship between autistic traits and all measures of empathy, but the cognitive empathy test used was subject to ceiling effects, reducing the sensitivity of this task.

Studies of emotional contagion (thought to reflect affective empathy) highlighted impairment in typically developing adults with psychopathic traits and individuals with autistic traits, with greatest impairment observed in those with psychopathic traits ( 68 ). Helt et al. ( 68 ) observed that individuals with high traits of either autism or psychopathy both showed reduced yawn contagion, but the psychopathic trait group also showed reduced contagion of itching. The relationship between autistic traits and yawn contagion was moderated by eye gaze suggesting that some of the reduced contagion was due to less time spent looking at the eyes. These findings contribute to the evidence that psychopathy is associated with diminished affective empathy to a greater extent than autism. Similar results were found in autistic adults with a diagnosis; Noppari et al. ( 72 ) recruited violent offenders with high psychopathic traits, autistic adults and a typically developing comparison group. They observed weakened somatomotor responses in both their violent offender group and their autistic group (compared to their comparison group), however the most pronounced deficits were observed in the violent offender group.

Only one study investigated the interaction of psychopathic and autistic traits in relation to empathy. Gillespie et al. ( 67 ) measured primary and secondary psychopathy traits and autistic traits amongst university students and observed diminished cognitive ToM performance in students with both high primary psychopathy traits and autistic traits, concluding that people with co-occurring traits of both constructs have additional empathy impairments. No interaction effect was seen for affective ToM, which was uniquely associated with primary psychopathic tendencies. Unfortunately, this was a small-scale study, relying on self-report measures.

6.4 Cognitive profile

As with children, there was evidence that psychopathy and autism have different cognitive profiles and the authors of two studies compared high and low autistic or psychopathic trait groups on cognitive processes. The first group reported that adults with high autistic traits tend to blame vignette characters for their mistakes more so than those with low autistic traits, while those with high psychopathic traits attributed lower regret and guilt to vignette characters ( 69 ). The second group investigated moral judgment, reporting that the high psychopathic trait group judged misdemeanours less harshly than the low psychopathy group, with no differences in those with high or low autistic traits, leading them to conclude that moral judgement was only affected by psychopathy ( 77 ). Although offering insight into the cognitive profiles of autism and psychopathy, neither study investigated the interaction of the two constructs, and both relied on self-report measures from university students, limiting generalisability.

Two additional studies employed brain imagining techniques in individuals with autistic or psychopathic traits. Leno et al. ( 70 ) investigated neural feedback processing of social and non-social information, reporting atypical neural feedback processing in both trait groups. Autistic traits were associated with decreased sensitivity to social feedback, whilst those with traits of the antisocial domain of psychopathy showed decreased sensitivity to all feedback and those with traits of the interpersonal domain of psychopathy showed attenuated processing of negative feedback only. Skjegstad et al. ( 74 ) reported deficits in both trait groups for socio-affective processing, but again these showed different areas of association; autistic traits were associated with deficits in dorsal auditory processing streams (used for communication context encoding), whilst psychopathic traits were associated with hypoactivity in socio-affective processing networks. This study was exploratory and lacked an a priori power calculation, but both studies suggested distinct neural mechanisms across these constructs. Again, these studies did not investigate the interaction of these traits, failing to shed light on the ‘double hit’ hypothesis.

Regarding the interaction of psychopathy and autistic traits, ( 65 ) investigated the mediating role of CUTs in different types of challenging behaviours in a sample of autistic adults with intellectual disability. They reported that CUTs mediated the relationship between challenging behaviours directed towards the self, but not aggressive behaviours directed towards others, therefore proposing that CUTs may have a protective role for self-directed challenging behaviours. However, results must be viewed tentatively as this was a small-scale study that looked only at frequency and not severity of behaviour amongst those with both intellectual disability and autism.

7 Discussion

This review sought to investigate the relationship between psychopathy and autism and what happens when they co-occur. Thirty-six studies were identified as meeting eligibility criteria, largely published within the last 10 years. The variation in methodologies, study focus, measures and samples recruited, made comparisons difficult, allowing only provisional conclusions to be drawn. Further, few studies investigated the co-occurrence of autism and psychopathy and directly investigated the ‘double hit’ hypothesis making it difficult to draw clear conclusions.

Across all ages, an increased prevalence of CUTs/psychopathy in autistic individuals or in those with high autistic traits appeared to exist relative to the general population and regardless of methodology used. Prevalence rates ranged from 22%-56%, whilst prevalence of psychopathy in the general population is estimated at 4.5% ( 7 ). It remains unclear whether autistic children are at risk of developing CUTs and later psychopathy, or whether autism and CUTs/psychopathy are similar constructs and overlap. Multiple limitations were associated with the measures used, drawing urgency to the need to develop measurement tools sensitive enough to untangle this relationship.

Generally, authors reported a positive correlation between autistic and psychopathic traits amongst children ( 33 , 35 , 36 ). However, the authors of one study reported no significant correlation between autistic symptoms and CUTs in diagnosed autistic boys ( 25 ). In adults, the positive relationship between autistic and psychopathic traits was generally attenuated relative to children ( 66 , 75 ) or not found ( 70 , 71 ). This was also observed in adults with autism and intellectual disability ( 65 ). The relationship between psychopathy and autism amongst adults and children may differ due to issues with the sensitivity of measurement tools and development; autistic and psychopathic traits will likely change with maturation.

Several papers evidenced that although the constructs are both associated with empathy dysfunction, the underlying mechanisms differ. In adults, psychopathy/psychopathic traits were generally found to be associated with diminished affective empathy and intact cognitive empathy, whilst the inverse relationship was seen in autism/autistic traits which is consistent with both theory and other research ( 21 , 97 ). A recent meta-analysis confirmed that psychopathy is associated with diminished affective empathy ( 98 ). Research about autism and affective empathy is inconsistent but points towards fewer deficits in this area compared to cognitive empathy ( 99 ), with some studies reporting intact affective empathy in autistic individuals ( 100 ).

In children, autism/autistic traits were also associated with difficulties with cognitive empathy but not affective empathy while the results for those with CUTs/psychopathy were inconsistent. Some studies reported deficits in both types of empathy and others reported difficulties with affective empathy only. This inconsistency may be due to developmental maturation throughout childhood ( 101 ) or gender, as children of both genders with psychopathic traits had difficulties with cognitive empathy but there was some evidence that males overcame these difficulties during their pubertal years ( 102 ). However, the authors of one study reported no relationship between age and empathy ( 35 ), which is unexpected, whilst another reported improved performance with increasing chronological age ( 17 ); however, they included a broader age range (six to 17 years) of boys only with intact cognitive empathy, whereas Georgiou et al. ( 35 ) included younger boys and girls (three to eight years).

In the current review, the findings from studies about emotion recognition were mixed. In adults and children, CUTs/psychopathy was associated with reduced emotion experience and emotion recognition ability, in particular, recognition of fear and sadness was diminished. These deficits largely remained in the presence of autism, for example, autistic boys with psychopathic traits showed poorer sadness recognition ( 25 ), and reduced amygdala activity to fearful faces was observed in autistic children with CUTs ( 37 ). However, results were inconsistent across studies with one study reporting a non-significant association between CUTs and emotion recognition after controlling for autism ( 33 ).

Previous research has indicated that fear recognition deficits in psychopathy are associated with poor attention to the eyes, resulting in blunted affect and impaired processing of affective cues in others ( 103 ). This association has been found across many samples, including children with CUTs ( 24 , 103 ), community samples ( 104 ) and psychopathic offenders ( 105 , 106 ), with similar findings in the current review identified by Bours et al. ( 34 ). Regarding the co-occurrence of CUTs and autism, it appears that deficits in eye gaze remain, with autistic children with CUTs taking longer to identify fear and showing reduced eye contact when viewing fearful faces, relative to autistic children with fewer CUTs ( 40 ).

Cueing to the eyes has been shown to improve fear recognition in children with CUTs ( 103 ). This was replicated in a single study identified in the current review, but the converse relationship was found in an autistic trait group who evidenced reduced fear recognition following cueing ( 42 ). It is possible that autistic individuals view eyes as threatening or over-arousing stimuli, thus avoiding this area and missing social processing cues which then interferes with emotion processing ( 107 ). This may explain why cueing to the eyes reduced fear recognition ability in autistic individuals but not in individuals with CUTs.

With regards to the ‘double hit’, Rogers et al. ( 25 ) reported that although psychopathy and autism can co-occur, they are not part of the same construct, finding that autistic boys with CUTs have additional impairments in moral convention distinction and sadness recognition. In the current review, two studies reported increased empathy deficits in individuals with traits of both; Pasalich et al. ( 44 ) found that boys with elevated CUTs and autistic traits showed greater impairment in affective empathy and in adults, and Gillespie et al. ( 67 ) found that the interaction of autistic and psychopathic traits was associated with reduced cognitive ToM but not affective ToM. They defined cognitive ToM as the ability to infer thoughts, intentions and beliefs of another and affective ToM as the ability to understand another’s emotions. These studies offer support to the ‘double hit’ hypothesis, suggesting increased deficits when the constructs co-exist. However, contrasting results were reported by other studies which indicated that the co-occurrence of these constructs offers enhanced skills, including less impaired affective empathy ( 45 ) and greater conflict monitoring skills ( 47 ). Unfortunately, based upon the studies included with the current systematic review, it was difficult to coherently describe the clinical manifestation of co-occurring autism and psychopathy due to some mixed findings. However, our findings offer support to the suggestion that autism and psychopathy are distinct constructs which further alter the empathic ability and cognitive ability of an individual when they co-exist.

7.1 Strengths and limitations

In the current review, the search strategy restricted the search terms to the title only and included the specifier ‘NOT psychopathology’. Although this was done in efforts to screen out inapplicable results, it could have potentially led to the exclusion of some studies. The inclusion of the grey literature was a strength, but only one unpublished thesis was found. It is also important to recognise the wide focus of the review as both a strength and a limitation. Whilst this allowed for inclusion of a broad range of research, the wide focus also made it challenging to draw more specific conclusions, which may have been possible by restricting the eligibility criteria. Psychopathy and autism are highly heterogeneous, and the studies recruited a broad range of participants which is perhaps reflected in the variation of results.

In terms of limitations of the included research, only two studies ( 67 , 74 ) differentiated between primary and secondary psychopathy and none considered the impact of adverse childhood experiences. In psychopathy research, children with CUTs showed strongest deficits in emotion recognition when there was no history of maltreatment, suggesting that this may be a feature of the primary variant only ( 108 ). As adverse childhood experiences are common in autistic children ( 109 ), this is an important variable to consider when seeking to determine the relationship between psychopathy and autism.

7.2 Clinical implications

The increased prevalence of CUTs/psychopathy in autistic individuals underscores the importance of assessing psychopathy as part of the evaluation of autistic offenders or those at risk of offending to better understand their presentation. Understanding this at an early stage could lead to more targeted treatment options. The studies included within this review were characterised by multiple difficulties with measurement, including lack of validated measures for identifying psychopathic traits within autistic individuals, highlighting this as an area requiring attention. There was a lack of intervention studies, however there was some evidence to suggest that interventions to improve eye contact may be a helpful strategy to improve emotion recognition in psychopathic individuals but may have a detrimental impact for autistic individuals ( 42 ). The impact of such interventions for individuals with both psychopathy and autism is unclear but clinicians should be aware of the different underlying mechanisms and consider this with implementation of any emotion recognition strategies used.

7.3 Future directions

Although research in this area appear to have grown substantially since Rogers et al. ( 25 ) introduced the concept of the ‘double hit’ hypothesis, clear gaps remain. Firstly, there remains a lack of research focusing on the interaction of both autism and psychopathy which is critical in furthering our understanding of the clinical manifestation of the two constructs when they co-occur. Age and gender remain relatively unexplored variables, with fewer studies focusing on females which may be important given indicated sex differences in psychopathy ( 110 ). The presentation of primary and secondary psychopathy variants in autistic individuals is unexplored and may be important as autistic individuals experience increased adverse childhood events. Furthermore, future research would benefit from longitudinal studies exploring the developmental trajectory of autistic adults with co-morbid psychopathy or autistic children with CUT. Finally, to aid research in this area, it is essential to establish the validity of measures of psychopathy within autistic individuals, as well as the validity of measures of autism with those scoring high on measures of psychopathy. It was notable that there was a lack of studies about autistic traits amongst those with high psychopathy. These directions will all support better understanding of the relationship between psychopathy and autism and support the development of appropriate care pathways within clinical and forensic systems.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Author contributions

KM: Methodology, Formal analysis, Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft. HW: Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. FB: Supervision, Writing – review & editing. PL: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Supervision, Methodology, Formal analysis, Conceptualization.

The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: autism, psychopathy, callous unemotional traits, review - systematic, narrative synthesis

Citation: Maguire K, Warman H, Blumenfeld F and Langdon PE (2024) The relationship between psychopathy and autism: a systematic review and narrative synthesis. 15:1375170. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1375170

Received: 23 January 2024; Accepted: 13 March 2024; Published: 27 March 2024.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2024 Maguire, Warman, Blumenfeld and Langdon. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Peter E. Langdon, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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3 helpful resources for Autism Awareness Month and Autism Acceptance Month

Kylie Kelce and Ryan Hammond, executive director of the Eagles Autism Foundation, joined TODAY on the plaza to kick off Autism Awareness Month and Autism Acceptance Month. The following organizations are dedicated to raising funds, connecting communities, families and individuals to education and resources and raising awareness about autism with the goal of promoting acceptance and inclusion.

Eagles Autism Foundation

The Eagles Autism Foundation is dedicated to raising funds for innovative research and care programs. By providing the necessary resources to doctors and scientists at leading institutions, the organization is able to assist those currently affected by autism as well as future generations.

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Autism Speaks

Autism Speaks is dedicated to creating an inclusive world for all individuals with autism throughout their lifespan through advocacy, services, supports, research and innovation, and advances in care for autistic individuals and their families.

Autism Society 

The Autism Society, including its nationwide network of affiliates, connects people to the resources they need through education, advocacy, support, information and referral, and community programming.

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