I loved those books as a child! I've reread a few of those stories as an adult. As a child, I just thought the books were hilarious, and didn't realy analyze them. When I reread some of the stories as an adult, As did cross my mind. I wonder if Peggy Parish did model the character after someone she knew. If she did, that person was most likely on the spectrum. I should research the author, and see what I find.
ETA: I just did a google search, and came up with some interesting things. Peggy Parish, the original author of the series, died in 1988, at which point, her nephew Herman took ove the writing of the books. Apparently, he dedicated the first Amelia Bedelia book he wrote to, "Peggy Parish, the real Amelia." He also said in an interview, "My aunt, Peggy Parish, would often take things literally—not continually, as Amelia Bedelia does, but enough times that one could understand how she could have come up with and sustained the character quite naturally."
I'm thinking that Peggy Parish may have been on the spectrum herself, or at least on the Broader Autism Phenotype. This is fascinating -- I want to read more about her now.
_________________
"And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad./ The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had."