* Introduction: Many first-hand accounts of autistic people describe feelings of comfort and ease with autistic peers. One explanation for this is encapsulated by the Double Empathy Problem, which emphasises a mismatch between autistic and non-autistic social partners, rather than an autistic social cognition deficit. This qualitative research explored and contrasted autistic experiences of spending social time with neurotypical and autistic friends, colleagues, and family. Methods: 12 autistic adults (10F, aged 21-51) completed semi-structured interviews focused on time spent with friends and family; positives and negative aspects of time spent with neurotypical and autistic friends and family; and feelings during and after spending time together. Hour-long interviews were conducted in person, via skype, or phone. Results: Interviews are currently being thematically analysed. One emerging theme concerns feelings of similarity, empathy and comfort around autistic people. Specific examples include interactions with autistic people being less cognitively demanding due to less masking of autistic behaviours, increased empathy and tolerance for autistic people behaving in a different way, and benefitting from shared autism-specific strategies and advice. A second theme is a lack of understanding of the autistic experience from neurotypical peers. This incorporates neurotypicals not reading autistic emotions accurately, awkwardness or discomfort during interactions, and increased fatigue after spending time together. Conclusion/impact: These findings describe the benefits of autistic people creating and maintaining social relationships with other autistic people more systematically than previous individual reports. They highlight the need for autistic-led social opportunities and indicate benefits of informal peer support for autistic adults. * I have an OSF account using this email address ————————————— Dr Catherine Crompton The Patrick Wild Centre, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, The University of Edinburgh Kennedy Tower, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Terrace, EH10 5HF catherine.crompton@ed.ac.uk - 0131 537 6505 Twitter @cjcrompton [1516804850979_PastedImage] The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.