Brief Report: Intuitive and Reflective Reasoning in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Murphy et al. (2017) gave adults with autism a short test called the Cognitive Reflection Test. The test has trick questions that tempt you to blurt out a fast, wrong answer.

The team compared answers from autistic adults to those of typical adults. They wanted to see who used quick gut answers and who stopped to think.

Autistic adults gave fewer fast gut answers and more slow, careful answers. The more autism traits a person had, the stronger this pattern.

In plain words, clients with ASD tend to double-check instead of going with their first hunch.

van der Miesen et al. (2024) later showed that autistic adults also fail to guess what others might believe, even when they clearly see social cues. Both studies used similar lab tasks and found negative results, so the 2024 paper extends the 2017 reasoning idea into the social realm.

Begeer et al. (2009) looked at a different kind of reasoning—counterfactual "if only" thinking—in children. They found mixed results, whereas Mark’s adult sample showed a clear negative shift. The age gap and task type explain the different outcomes.

Morsanyi et al. (2012) found that high-functioning autistic teens struggle to ignore real-world facts when asked to reason about fantasy. Mark’s adults show a similar cautious style, suggesting the reflective pattern lasts across age groups.

If your client pauses or asks for extra time, they may be doing reflective thinking, not being non-compliant. Use this strength by giving clear wait time and written steps. Avoid games that reward snap guesses; instead, teach problems that value planning and checking.