The Stereotype: Autistic people lack empathy. They struggle to care about others.

The Research: Independent studies across three countries demonstrated the same thing: autistic adults are just as generous with their loved ones as non-autistic adults, and significantly more generous with strangers.

And, a just-published study shows that this is not because they are “simply doing the same thing rigidly” or “don’t understand the value of money.”

Researchers at University College London recruited 37 autistic adults (all with formal clinical diagnoses) and 38 non-autistic adults. The groups were carefully matched on age, gender, and IQ at slightly above average—meaning any differences couldn't be explained by intelligence or demographics. The only major difference was that autistic participants scored much higher on the Autism Quotient questionnaire, as would be expected.

Participants completed a well-established economic task called the Social Value Orientation (SVO) questionnaire. Here's how it worked: they were given money to split between themselves and another........

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