Global/local processing in autism: not a disability, but a disinclination.

Koldewyn et al. (2013) watched autistic kids look at big shapes made of tiny shapes.

Sometimes the kids could look anywhere. Other times the team said, "Look at the big picture."

The study wanted to know if the children truly could not see the big shape, or simply liked the small ones.

When no one told them what to do, the kids stared at the tiny parts.

When the team said, "Look at the whole," the kids saw the big shape just fine.

The authors call this a disinclination, not a deficit — the ability is there, the choice is different.

Nayar et al. (2017) seems to disagree. They used eye-tracking and saw fewer looks at the big shape, claiming a real global perception gap. The clash fades when you notice they only watched free viewing, never giving the "look global" prompt that Kami used.

Burrows et al. (2018) and O'Connor et al. (2008) back Kami up. Both say the local bias is a default style, not a broken global system.

Alonso Soriano et al. (2015) found no local bias in teens with autism. The gap likely comes from age and from using computer-run tasks instead of human instructions.

Stop writing "global processing deficit" in reports. Instead note, "Client shows local preference that lifts with clear cue." Start sessions with a quick prompt: "First, look at the whole picture," then give the task. You may see instant gains in matching, puzzles, or social scenes that require whole-face reading.