Differential olfactory identification in children with autism and Asperger's disorder: a comparative and longitudinal study.

May et al. (2011) compared how well kids with high-functioning autism and Asperger's disorder could name smells.

They tested each nostril alone and then both together.

The same children came back two years later so the team could see if the pattern stayed the same.

The high-functioning autism group kept failing to name smells when only one nostril was used.

The Asperger's and typical groups did not show this one-sided problem.

The authors say the result points to different brain wiring in the two autism sub-types.

Bao et al. (2017) later looked at fourteen smell-and-taste studies and also found mixed results across the spectrum, but they noted that naming smells was the task most often impaired.

Legiša et al. (2013) used the same high-functioning autism group and found the kids felt and showed emotion to smells just like peers, yet they could not always tell you what they felt.

Together these papers suggest the nose works fine for detecting and reacting, yet the brain label-maker is weak in high-functioning autism.

If you assess a child who can talk well but bombs a simple smell-name test, do not assume poor effort.

The unirhinal failure may flag an autism profile that needs stronger visual or verbal cues during teaching.

Try pairing new foods or hygiene tasks with picture cards instead of relying on the child to tell you what they smell.