Strategies for developing interactional expertise: how non-autistic communication partners enable or block the effective contributions to significant conversations by autistic people.

Abstract

Decades of communication research have focused on the so-called "deficits" of autistic people and on interventions to remediate these. This study takes a different perspective in line with the neurodiversity paradigm to examine what non-autistic communication partners do to enable or undermine the ability of autistic people to think and to contribute their own knowledge and ideas to the conversation. In-depth, longitudinal case studies of the communication exchanges between three autistic women and two autistic men and their chosen, non-autistic communication partners (one man and six women) were undertaken over 4-12 months via semi-structured interviews, observation, reflective conversations, and diary records. Conversation transcripts were analysed thematically to identify the communication of the non-autistic participants as broadly helpful ("grease" or "flow") or unhelpful ("blocks"). Sub-themes included how to optimise engagement, respond to disengagement, build shared understanding, and provide prompts at the right time. Interrupting, giving ideas and asking unhelpful questions often functioned as a block to thinking and contribution to the conversation. The "grease" and "blocks" identified could provide a powerful and timely reframing for the focus of autism communication training towards promoting interactional expertise, especially for anyone involved in important consultation with autistic people.