Awareness of single and multiple emotions in high-functioning children with autism.

Rieffe et al. (2007) asked high-functioning kids with autism to name their own feelings.

The team also checked how well the kids could sort emotions into groups like happy, sad, or scared.

They compared the answers to typically developing children of the same age.

The autistic children could not label their own emotions as well as their peers.

They mixed up negative feelings and used the word "fear" more than any other label.

Their emotion concepts were less clear, especially for unpleasant states.

Ryan et al. (2010) ran a small-group class that taught facial-expression parts. After the lessons, autistic kids made big gains in naming emotions. This follow-up shows the deficit Carolien et al. found can be trained.

Golan et al. (2018) looked at kids who also had intellectual disability. They saw the same trouble with anger and surprise, but adding a voice cue helped recognition. Together the studies map a chain: self-labeling is weak, face-reading is weak, yet both improve with extra cues or teaching.

Schaaf et al. (2015) widened the age range and added regulation strategies. They found autistic youth feel the same inside, but they use fewer helpful thoughts and more hiding. The 2007 emotion-concept gap may feed the 2015 regulation gap; if you cannot name it, you cannot manage it.

Your high-functioning clients may say "I feel scared" for every negative state. Start by teaching clear emotion words with pictures, mirrors, and video clips. Then move to fine-grained labels like annoyed, worried, or disappointed. This simple vocabulary work sets the stage for later regulation programs and peer chats.