Autistic social challenges have long been assumed to arise from a lack of social knowledge (“not knowing what to do”), which has undergirded theory and practice in assessment, treatment, and education. However, emerging evidence suggests these differences may be better accounted for by difficulties with social performance (“doing what they may know”). This distinction has important implications for research, practice, policy, and community support of autistic people. This review examines the theoretical and clinical implications and empirical status of the knowledge-performance distinction in autism. Current evidence suggests that social knowledge deficits are neither definitional nor reliably related to outcomes in autism. Prioritizing social knowledge, then, may produce unanticipated, problematic consequences in terms of accuracy of assessment, intervention effectiveness, and promotion of stigma. It may also yield unrealistic expectations around the value of knowledge for autistic people and their families, yielding important ethical considerations. Conversely, recent evidence highlights performance-related factors as being especially promising for better modeling and addressing social challenges in autism. Prioritizing performance, then, may offer new directions for assessment, substantially different intervention opportunities, and novel methods of inclusion and affirmation. This review touches upon each of these domains and implications, integrates these developments with broader models of social competence in youth, and provides direction for future research and practice regarding social competence in autism.

长期以来，自闭症的社会挑战一直被认为是由于缺乏社会知识（“不知道该做什么”）引起的，这支撑了评估、治疗和教育的理论和实践。然而，新出现的证据表明，这些差异可能可以通过社交表现困难（“做他们可能知道的事情”）来更好地解释。这种区别对于自闭症患者的研究、实践、政策和社区支持具有重要意义。这篇综述探讨了自闭症知识与表现差异的理论和临床意义以及经验状况。目前的证据表明，社会知识缺陷既不具有定义性，也不与自闭症的结果可靠相关。因此，优先考虑社会知识可能会在评估准确性、干预有效性和促进耻辱方面产生意想不到的问题后果。它还可能对自闭症患者及其家人的知识价值产生不切实际的期望，从而产生重要的道德考虑。相反，最近的证据强调与表现相关的因素对于更好地建模和解决自闭症的社会挑战特别有希望。那么，优先考虑绩效可能会提供新的评估方向、截然不同的干预机会以及包容和肯定的新方法。本综述涉及每个领域和含义，将这些发展与更广泛的青年社会能力模型相结合，并为自闭症社会能力的未来研究和实践提供方向。