Assuming that a behavior of low-functioning persons affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is related to the abstraction ability deficit we propose a simple model in which this ability is described by a distance function d_q (A,B) = ∥A - B∥_q, q ∈ [0,∞], measuring differences between patterns. We posit that, with a decreasing parameter q, the abstraction ability diminishes and, in particular, impairs both supervised and unsupervised learning. We provide suggestions for education and therapy, and explain several examples of autistic behaviors.