TIL the Intense World Theory suggests that Autistic people do not lack empathy/emotion. They shutdown because they are overloaded by emotions due to hypersensitivity and are not able to express empathy/emotion like other people because of that. Essentially, Autistic people feel too much. User blackdragon8577, in the Today I Learned (TIL) subreddit, 22 Nov 2013
The Intense World Theory – A Unifying Theory of the Neurobiology of Autism User subtextual, in the Neuropsychology: Links, Resources, and Discussion subreddit, 04 Jan 2011