Narratives of children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: A meta-analysis.

The team looked at 24 studies of kids with high-functioning autism.

They compared how well these kids told stories versus typical peers.

They checked three things: sentence grammar, story structure, and use of feeling words.

Autistic kids scored lower on all three story parts.

Their sentences were simpler.

Their stories had weaker beginnings, middles, and ends.

They used fewer words like 'happy,' 'sad,' or 'worried.'

Llanes et al. (2020) shows these same gaps show up when kids write stories, not just when they speak them.

Kauschke et al. (2016) found girls with autism use more feeling words than boys, but both groups still lag behind typical kids.

Sasson et al. (2018) zoomed in on emotional words and found autistic kids use even fewer when describing sad or lonely scenes.

These studies don't clash—they paint the same picture across different ages, tasks, and details.

If a child can't tell a clear story, they can't share what happened at school or explain why they're upset.

Use story-telling practice as therapy.

Have kids retell simple picture books and add feeling words.

Track if they start using 'because' and emotion words more often.