Atypical social communication is associated with positive initial impressions among peers with autism spectrum disorder.

Granieri et al. (2020) asked autistic youth to rate first impressions of new autistic peers. They looked at how odd or typical the peer's social style seemed.

The team wanted to know if 'weird' communication hurt likability inside an all-autistic group.

Surprise: the more atypical the communication, the better the first-impression score. Autistic kids liked other autistic kids who acted 'autistic.'

The usual rule—'act normal to be liked'—flipped when everyone shared the same diagnosis.

Yen-Wong et al. (2024) seems to disagree. They found that atypical communication later predicted weaker peer ties. The gap is about time and rater pool: E et al. captured snap judgments inside an autistic circle, while Yen-Chin tracked real-world friendships that mixed autistic and non-autistic classmates.

Plant et al. (2007) also looked negative: non-autistic adults rated autistic speakers as less engaged. Again, rater neurotype matters. Autistic raters in E et al. saw the same behaviors as likable, showing the contradiction is only apparent.

Chen et al. (2022) extends the idea to school clubs. They saw autistic students choose autistic table-mates and form stronger ties with them, matching the preference E et al. found in the lab.

Stop sanding off autistic quirks in autism-only spaces. Let kids use natural tone, pacing, and body language; peers will probably like them more, not less. When you do run mixed groups, teach both neurotypes to value different styles instead of pushing one 'normal' mold.