Young children favor what they perceive as normative behavior and people who act in normative ways. This preference for normativity could negatively affect non-autistic children's attitudes towards autistic peers – individuals who (by definition) act in unconventional ways. In Study 1, we investigated how non-autistic 4- to 7-year-old U.S. children (N = 112) evaluated several unconventional behaviors characteristic of autism and the characters who engaged in them. Surprisingly, children generally did not object to individual autistic-like behaviors or the characters who engaged in them, although they evaluated them less favorably than normative behaviors and characters. In Study 2, we investigated why gaze aversion was the most negatively evaluated autistic-like behavior in Study 1. Six and seven-year-old U.S. children (N = 33) indicated that characters who averted their gaze as a teacher was talking were less attentive and less respectful than characters who looked at her as she was talking. Young children do not appear to object to individual autistic-like behaviors or peers who engage in them unless – as in the case of gaze aversion – they could signal a willful violation of classroom norms.

中文翻译：

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“拍拍手也没关系”：非自闭症儿童不反对与自闭症相关的个人非常规行为

年幼的孩子喜欢他们认为的规范行为和以规范方式行事的人。这种对规范性的偏好可能会对非自闭症儿童对自闭症同伴的态度产生负面影响——这些人（根据定义）以非常规方式行事。在研究 1 中，我们调查了美国 4 至 7 岁的非自闭症儿童（N = 112) 评估了自闭症的几种非常规行为特征以及从事这些行为的角色。令人惊讶的是，儿童通常不反对个体自闭症行为或从事这些行为的角色，尽管他们对这些行为的评价不如规范行为和角色。在研究 2 中，我们调查了为什么在研究 1 中厌恶注视是最负面评价的自闭症样行为。 6 岁和 7 岁的美国儿童（N = 33) 表明，在老师讲话时转移视线的角色比在她讲话时看着她的角色更不专心和不尊重。幼儿似乎并不反对个人的自闭症行为或参与这些行为的同龄人，除非——例如厌恶注视——他们可能表示故意违反课堂规范。