What about theory of mind? The absence of this is a characteristic of autism, and wouldn't empathy be connected to theory of mind?
This is from the DSM-V: "Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity..." ...so maybe it's not that they completely lack empathy but rather process it in a way that we don't recognize and therefor categorize as a deficit?
Autistic people do not lack empathy. It's not part of the definition. Some autistic adults have described their state of mind as having too much empathy-- not being able to process because it's too intense to witness the feelings of others.
Science is still not clear on this one, but it's not a diagnostic feature.
