So each individual section of the brain in an autistic person has more neural connections within those sections than a neurotypical brain. However the neural connections that exist between the different sections of the brain that connect them to each other are fewer. Knowing that makes me think that if something like "small talk" requires multiple different processes or "areas of the brain" being used at once that it would make sense that it would be more difficult for neurodivergent brains. I think this also explains a lot of the more savant/prodigy trends with neurodivergence as well.
I recently read that the "wiring" that is different in autistic brains is that we have more connections in each individual section of the brain, but less in between different connections, so this being difficult does make a lot more sense in that context as well.
It's not whether or not something is animated. Animation is just a medium. There are plenty of quality animations and plenty of garbage live action shows also aimed at kids.
A more appropriate analogy would be saying that animation is a style of television and movies the way Italian is a style of cooking compared to Chinese. It's a method that can be used in different ways to make something differently than if you wanted to do live action, but both have the same ingredients that creators can choose to use or not.
You can have Italian food that's good for you or bad for you depending on the ingredients and amount and frequency consumed, just like animation can be good or bad for you depending on what went into the show and how you watch it or rather, what you take from it.
