Divergent patterns of social cognition performance in autism and 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS).

The team compared three groups of teens: autistic, 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, and typically developing. Each teen watched faces on a screen and named the emotion. An eye-tracker recorded where they looked.

The goal was to see if social-cognition problems look the same in autism and 22q11DS, or if each condition has its own pattern.

Both autism and 22q11DS groups scored lower on face-emotion accuracy and looked less at the eye region than typical peers.

Only the autistic teens also scanned non-social parts of scenes less, yet they still hit typical accuracy. This hints they use a different visual route to reach the right answer.

Wang et al. (2022) extends the eye-tracking link: poor sleep in young autistic kids worsens core symptoms through the same atypical gaze patterns L et al. saw.

Kiep et al. (2017) shows girls with autism camouflage social gaps by staying near peers. L et al. adds a new camouflage route—odd scanning that still lets teens name emotions correctly.

Laermans et al. (2025) now supersedes the single-task view. Their 2025 model says social competence in autistic teens is a network of brain, cognition, and behavior together, not eye gaze alone.

If a teen looks away from eyes yet labels emotions fine, don’t assume lack of skill. Probe for compensatory tactics before adding eye-contact goals. Pair this info with sleep data and wider social-brain measures to build a fuller picture of social strengths and needs.