Autistic adults display different verbal behavior only in mixed-neurotype interactions: Evidence from a referential communication task.
Recent accounts of social difficulties in autism suggest that autistic and non-autistic individuals mutually misunderstand each other. This assumption aligns with findings that mixed-neurotype interactions are less efficient than same-neurotype interactions. However, it remains unclear whether diffe...
| Publicado en: | Autism: The International Journal of Research & Practice Vol. 29; no. 5; pp. 1129 - 1143 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , |
| Formato: | pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Sage Publications Inc.
May2025
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=184797744&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 184797744 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 13623613 F9D jtl: Autism: The International Journal of Research & Practice issn: 13623613 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: May2025 vid: 29 iid: 5 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. place: Thousand Oaks, California artinfo: ui: 184797744 181048591 184797744 184797744 10.1177/13623613241298376 184797744 ppf: 1129 ppct: 14 formats: tig: atl: Autistic adults display different verbal behavior only in mixed-neurotype interactions: Evidence from a referential communication task. aug: au: Geelhand, Philippine Papastamou, Fanny Jaspard, Solène Kissine, Mikhail affil: ACTE, LaDisco and ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium sug: subj: Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms Verbal Behavior Neurodiversity Interpersonal Relations Communication Task Performance and Analysis Human Male Female Adult Middle Age Funding Source Written Language Mental Processes Adult: 19-44 years Middle Aged: 45-64 years Male Female ab: Recent accounts of social difficulties in autism suggest that autistic and non-autistic individuals mutually misunderstand each other. This assumption aligns with findings that mixed-neurotype interactions are less efficient than same-neurotype interactions. However, it remains unclear whether different outcomes between mixed- and same-neurotype interactions are due to contact with a different neurotype or to inherently different communication styles, specific to each neurotype. A total of 134 adult participants were divided into three same-sex dyad types: 23 autistic dyads, 23 non-autistic dyads, and 21 mixed-neurotype dyads. Participants were unaware of their partner's neurotype. Dyads completed an online referential communication task where a "Director" guides a "Matcher" to rearrange abstract images, using both written (chat) and oral (microphone, no video) communication modes. Interaction outcome measures were task duration and verbosity of the Director. Across both communication modes, non-autistic dyads completed the task faster than autistic and mixed dyads, indicating that dyads with at least one autistic partner were generally slower. Notably, in mixed dyads, autistic Directors were more verbose than non-autistic Directors across both communication modes. These results, in conjunction with partners' unawareness of each other's neurotype, suggest that even in the absence of non-verbal cues neurotype mismatch triggers autistic adults to display different verbal behavior. Recent research shows that in conversations, both participants influence the outcome. More specifically, conversations do not go as smoothly when autistic and non-autistic people talk together compared to when people of the same neurotype (either all autistic or all non-autistic) talk to each other. In studies finding a "same-neurotype communicative advantage", interaction partners knew about each other's neurotype. Because of this methodological choice, it is unclear whether mixed-neurotype interactions go less smoothly because participants knew they were interacting with a different neurotype or because each neurotype really has a distinct communication style. In our study, 134 adults were grouped into same-sex pairs: 23 autistic, 23 non-autistic, and 21 mixed-neurotype pairs. The pairs did not know if the other person was autistic or not. They completed an online task where the "Director" instructs the "Matcher" to reorder abstract pictures. Pairs did this task in two ways: by typing in a live chat and by speaking into a microphone without video. The study looked at how long the task took and how much the Director talked/wrote. Results showed that non-autistic pairs were faster to complete the task than autistic pairs and mixed pairs, meaning pairs with at least one autistic person were slower in general to complete the task. Interestingly, in mixed pairs, only autistic Directors produced more words than non-autistic Directors, in both typing and speaking. These findings suggest that even without knowing about their partner's neurotype and seeing/hearing their partner, autistic adults communicate differently when they interact with a non-autistic person. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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