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Can People with Autism Tell Jokes and Understand Humor?

A stigma that’s often associated with people who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is that they don’t have a sense of humor. Either they don’t understand humor to begin with or they’re just not funny or interested in such things.

Like many other stigmas surrounding autism, this one is just not true. People with autism can tell jokes and understand humor, but the behaviors they exhibit and how their brain processes information might make it seem as if they’re not interested in humor or not able to understand it.

People on the autism spectrum simply think differently than neurotypical individuals. Their neurodevelopmental disorder causes their brains to process information in different ways, and that exhibits itself in some of the different ways they act and communicate.

In addition, people with autism typically face challenges with communication and social interaction, which are two essential aspects of telling jokes and understanding humor as neurotypical individuals know it.

Let’s take a closer look at this topic below and delve into why people with autism think differently and how it affects their ability to tell jokes and understand humor.

Table Of Contents

Differences Between Neurotypical and Autistic Humor Processing

  • Neurotypical Individuals:

    • Rely on nonverbal cues like tone and gestures.
    • Engage in social laughter to bond with others.
    • Often enjoy sarcasm, wordplay, and irony.
    • Process jokes quickly and respond in real time.

  • Individuals with Autism:

    • May struggle with tone, facial expressions, or sarcasm.
    • Laugh primarily when something is genuinely funny, rather than for social reasons.
    • Prefer humor that is logical, structured, or based on patterns.
    • May need extra time to process and respond to jokes.

How Does Communication Affect Humor?

At the core of humor is the ability to communicate. If the person who’s telling a joke, for instance, isn’t able to effectively communicate the content of that joke to other people, it’s likely that others aren’t going to laugh.

In essence, whether other people think a joke is funny or not depends a lot on how that joke is “delivered” — or, in other words, how it is communicated.

Not only that, but humor isn’t only about the words that are spoken. Tone of voice is important, especially in sarcasm. So, too, are things like body language and facial expressions.

People who have autism typically struggle with communication, especially with some of those nonverbal cues. This could make it tougher for them to understand humor in the same ways that neurotypical individuals are.

As a result, people with ASD may not laugh at the same things as their neurotypical peers do, and they may also tell jokes differently. This could cause their peers to think they don’t understand humor and/or can’t tell jokes.

How Does Social Interaction Affect Humor?

Another major aspect of humor and telling jokes is social interaction. People often laugh more when they’re in the company of other people — whether that is in a group of friends laughing together or as a member of a larger audience at a stand-up comedy show.

Many people engage in what is known as “social interaction laughter.” Laughing in this context is a social expression all by itself. When people all laugh at the same joke, it’s a way for them to engage with each other, relate to one another and be polite to the person telling the joke — even if they might not think the joke is that funny.

A 2019 study found that children with autism primarily laugh when they genuinely find something funny. They don’t often engage in “social interaction laughter,” or at least not as often as their neurotypical peers.

This, again, could contribute to the stigma that people with autism can’t tell jokes and understand humor. When people with autism don’t laugh at a joke, for example, others may think they don’t get the joke and are being rude — especially if everyone else in the crowd is laughing.

Can Humor Be ‘Improved?’

A sense of humor is quite complex and complicated, and it’s very personal to each individual. What one person finds funny may not be funny to someone else, and a person’s unique experiences contribute to that.

In this regard, “humor” is a very subjective term. So, wondering whether it can be improved or not is really a moot exercise.

That being said, people who have autism can certainly build skills and learn new things that can help them improve their communication and feel more comfortable in social situations, which can help them to better understand the humor of neurotypical individuals.

Applied behavior analysis, or ABA therapy, is the leading treatment plan for people on the autism spectrum. Based on scientific evidence, the treatment helps people with ASD build the communication and social interaction skills they typically struggle with, in addition to modifying certain behaviors that may be harmful.

Using positive reinforcement, repetition and many different strategies, therapists help their patients build these skills over time so they can live more independently.

Key Challenges People with Autism Face in Understanding Humor

  • Difficulty with Nonverbal Cues – Struggles with understanding tone, facial expressions, and body language.
  • Literal Thinking – May interpret jokes literally instead of understanding sarcasm or irony.
  • Challenges with Social Interaction – Less engagement in social laughter, making humor seem less reciprocal.
  • Differences in Humor Preferences – May prefer structured, logical, or factual humor over abstract or spontaneous humor.
  • Delayed Processing – Jokes with multiple layers of meaning may take longer to understand.

Trust Blue Gems ABA with Your Child’s Autism Treatment

Despite the stigma, people with autism can tell jokes and understand humor. It’s just that they might not have the same humor as their neurotypical peers.

That being said, people with autism can build the social interaction and communication skills to help them better understand some crucial parts of humor, such as body language, tone of voice and facial expressions.

At Blue Gems ABA, we work with children with ASD every day, helping them build these skills and modify certain behaviors so they can live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives.

To learn more, please contact us today.