Acting on observed social exclusion and pro-social behaviour in autism spectrum disorder.

Silva et al. (2020) watched autistic and neurotypical adults after they saw someone being left out.

The team used a lab game where one player was excluded. They then counted how often each observer stepped in to help.

No one got training or prompts; the study looked only at natural, spontaneous reactions.

Autistic viewers offered less help and showed smaller mood changes after seeing exclusion.

Neurotypical observers more often handed over points or spoke up for the excluded player.

The gap stayed even when everyone clearly noticed the exclusion scene.

Amaral et al. (2019) saw the same pattern in younger kids: autistic pre-teens helped less, and low motivation was not the cause.

Van Hoorn et al. (2017) seems to disagree—they found that autistic teens gave more tokens after peer feedback. The key difference is outside cues: the 2020 study had none, while the 2017 study added clear peer comments.

Santos et al. (2012) helps explain why: autistic adults did not automatically look at negative social scenes, so they may need extra signals to notice and act.

If your client sees bullying or left-out peers, do not assume they will naturally step in. Add explicit teaching. Model what to say, role-play handing over a toy or inviting the peer, and give praise for these scripted helping acts. Over time, fade the prompts so the kind behavior stays.