might i ask why you think malia is autistic? i think her behaviour is easily explained by the fact that she spent nearly ten years as a coyote and therefore has little to no knowledge of human interaction and social cues
I was going to watch a few of the latest episodes again to give a more comprehensive answer but I had a two hour long conversation with my best friend about the marvel cinematic universe, went to social skills group and then got obsessed with origami so...that didn't happen.
I totally agree. Because of this situation in the show, Malia's lack of social prowess can be easily explained. Her powers explain her hypersensitivity in some areas (eg the hearing/sense of smell), and her past explains others (her conversation with Stiles about never being warm because she used to have a fur coat). Loss of control in all the were-beings = turnings, which to me will always remind me of meltdowns in Malia's case (not in most of the other were-beings.)
At the same time, that could be explained by autism, as well as her strongest attachment being to Stiles, and Stiles' echolalic communication with her aka, when Stiles repeats "I'd never leave you behind" to Malia, like when she said it to him earlier. Autistic people often use certain phrases to comunicate a specific meaning and feeling and sometimes misunderstand others, so Stiles repeating her phrase back at her to show her that he understood what she was saying to him and that he wants her to know he feels the same about her is not only cute, but very important to me. Because of Stiles' panic disorder I'm pretty sure he comes under the label "neurodivergent" which Malia also would if she was autistic, so I feel like he'd understand her communication needs.
I may be wrong here, because I didn't rewatch the episodes but I can't remember anyone but Stiles touching her? (EXCEPT THE KIRA SCENE which is a whole different thing, plus, she initiated it) Stiles would know the type of touch she welcomed versus that which alarmed her, so he would only touch her in ways that didn't upset her.
When she leaves the classroom and the teacher is asking if she needs to be excused, she doesn't pick up on her not being serious, and her tone doesn't change from as if she'd been talking to a friend. Autistic people often have difficulty telling when to change tone, or even have difficulty changing tone at all, so Malia not treating her teacher as if she has some form of authority fits with that to me.
The only thing that doesn't immediately jump out at me is repetitive behaviour/stimming/comfort mechanisms like that. But honestly, anything can be that. Her putting her highlighter in her mouth can be sensory seeking, that may feel good to her, the way she colour codes her school work, could be seen as repetitive or compulsive behaviour, she organises it all by colour instead of highlighting key points like she is "supposed" to.
That's not even mentioning missing social cues.
I like seeing people who aren't cis/straight/neurotypical, and I don't like that that is the default and I have to prove to people that they're different instead of other people proving that they're the same cis/straight/NT person I always see. Why do you think Malia is NT? Because that is what you immediately assume when you take in a piece of media. I have one actually canon autistic person to enjoy, and that's annoying to me. In my head Malia is a genderfluid, pansexual Autistic. She won't be that to the cast or to the writers but it means a lot more to me to watch my version of Malia.
(If any of this was rude, I apologise, I myself have some issues with sounding harsh. Feel free to continue messaging me, off anon or on anon or whatever, I hope this helped you see why Autistic!Malia is not only possible but important to me.)