Taste identification in adults with autism spectrum conditions.

Researchers asked adults with autism to name five basic tastes. The task was simple: sip, spit, and say what you tasted. A comparison group of typical adults did the same thing.

The team ran the test in a quiet lab. They used drops of sweet, sour, salty, and bitter solutions. Each person tried every taste several times.

Adults with autism named fewer tastes correctly. They mixed up bitter, sour, and sweet most often. Salty was the only taste they labeled as well as controls.

The mistakes were small but steady. They often called bitter 'salty' or said sweet had 'no taste.'

Ellingsen et al. (2014) seems to disagree. They found adults with autism like sweet just as much as controls. The key difference: R measured liking, not naming. Sweet preference stays intact, yet the same adults may still call it 'salty' if asked to label it.

Tavassoli et al. (2012) used the same adult autism group to test smell. Those adults detected odors normally. Together, the papers show a split: smell works fine, taste labels get fuzzy.

Kumazaki et al. (2019) extended the idea to kids. Children with autism adapt to smells more slowly than peers. The pattern is chemosensory differences, not loss.

If a client says a new food 'tastes like nothing,' believe them. Swap in salty or textured items first; those labels are safer. When you use edible reinforcers, pick ones they already name correctly, or skip taste tests and watch facial cues instead.