infodumping about your interests is hot. sharing a fascination is love.
enjoy each other’s company without necessarily doing the same thing together
if you’re planning any activities, be prepared to stop and leave in case it gets too intense. worst case: imagine if you’re severely sleep deprived and can’t focus on anything so everything happening around you is kinda too much and you can barely articulate your own needs—don’t ask too many questions, just get somewhere quiet.
Straight up just ask. Literally. No subtext stuff, that gets confused.
Weave in the coping strategies that have been mentioned above when out on the date. Things can flip and change if overstimulated, so the friend will have to not take it personally and help autist if that happens. But not help. Help by.... The autist will know what to do, they have to helo facilitate that. 👍