Neurotype-Matching, but Not Being Autistic, Influences Self and Observer Ratings of Interpersonal Rapport

Crompton, Catherine J.; Sharp, Martha; Axbey, Harriet; Fletcher‐Watson, Sue; Flynn, Emma; Ropar, Danielle

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.586171

Cited by 95 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…These debates and discussions have had genuine impact within some areas of autism research, predominantly that focused on adults. Examples of this impact include: (a) debates over whether the social difficulties experienced by autistic people are best understood as being a problem within the individual, or a problem between two (mis-matched) individuals, and the resulting research into the Double Empathy Problem and diversity in social intelligence (Milton, 2012 ; Crompton et al, 2020 ); (b) calls from the autistic community for a greater emphasis on improving mental health and quality of life in autistic individuals (Autistica, 2015 ; National Autistic Taskforce, 2019 ) and an increase in research into effective, person-centered mental health interventions (e.g., Crane et al, 2019 ; Cassidy et al, 2020 ; Parr et al, 2020 ) and (c) research into community preferences over the language used to describe autism and autistic people (e.g., Kenny et al, 2016 ; Bury et al, 2020 ). Despite these impacts within adult-focussed research, these debates are still rarely directly addressed in early intervention research, where the impact of the autistic viewpoint is often implicit or not present at all.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autistic Self-Advocacy and the Neurodiversity Movement: Implications for Autism Early Intervention Research and Practice

et al. 2021

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The growth of autistic self-advocacy and the neurodiversity movement has brought about new ethical, theoretical and ideological debates within autism theory, research and practice. These debates have had genuine impact within some areas of autism research but their influence is less evident within early intervention research. In this paper, we argue that all autism intervention stakeholders need to understand and actively engage with the views of autistic people and with neurodiversity as a concept and movement. In so doing, intervention researchers and practitioners are required to move away from a normative agenda and pay diligence to environmental goodness-of-fit, autistic developmental trajectories, internal drivers and experiences, and autistic prioritized intervention targets. Autism intervention researchers must respond to these debates by reframing effectiveness, developing tools to measure autistic prioritized outcomes, and forming partnerships with autistic people. There is a pressing need for increased reflection and articulation around how intervention practices align with a neurodiversity framework and greater emphasis within intervention programmes on natural developmental processes, coping strategies, autonomy, and well-being.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autistic Self-Advocacy and the Neurodiversity Movement: Implications for Autism Early Intervention Research and Practice

et al. 2021

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“…It is further argued that because a lack of social reciprocity is regarded to be relatively uncommon or easily repaired within non-autistic interactions, then autistic people must be to blame for breakdowns of reciprocity within an autistic - non-autistic interaction ( Milton, 2012 ; Chown, 2014 ). Research on mixed-neurotype interactions have supported the double empathy problem, finding that non-autistic people recognise fewer autistic facial expressions ( Brewer et al, 2016 ); struggle to identify autistic mental states ( Edey et al, 2016 ; Sheppard et al, 2016 ); overestimate how helpful they are during communication with autistic participants ( Heasman and Gillespie, 2019 ); and perceive a reduced sense of rapport compared to same-neurotype pairings ( Crompton et al, 2020c ). Furthermore, research has indicated that when autistic people interact with other autistic individuals, they may share some of the same-neurotype advantages observed within non-autistic pairings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overcoming the Double Empathy Problem Within Pairs of Autistic and Non-autistic Adults Through the Contemplation of Serious Literature

et al. 2021

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Recent research based on the needs of the autistic community has explored the frequent social misunderstandings that arise between autistic and non-autistic people, known as the double empathy problem. Double empathy understandings require both groups to respect neurodiversity by focussing on individuality across groups. This study aimed to explore how literature, through its ability to uncover nuanced emotional response differences between readers, could facilitate double empathy understandings within pairs of autistic and non-autistic adults. A longitudinal, qualitative design was used, with 4 gender-matched pairs. Participants read Of Mice and Men for 1 week, whilst completing a structured, reflective diary. This was followed by 4 one-hour paired reading sessions, where pairs discussed the book and their reflections in depth. Participants were then invited to a final one-on-one interview to discuss their thoughts and experiences of the paired reading sessions. Thematic and literary analysis of the session and interview data revealed four themes (1) The Book as Social Oil; (2) From a World of Difference to a World of Affinity; (3) Emotional Intelligence: From Thinking About to Feeling with; and (4) From Overwhelming to Overcoming. All participants reported having achieved an individualised view of one another to explore their nuanced differences. The non-autistic group reported a more sensitive understanding of what it means to be autistic, while the autistic group overcame concerns about non-autistic people stereotyping autism, and instead reported feeling valued and accommodated by their non-autistic partners.

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“…Supporting the double empathy theory, research on autistic social experience has revealed that autistic adults feel more comfortable, understood, and accepted when interacting with their autistic than non-autistic friends and families, while they associate their social experience with non-autistic people with pressure to conform to normative communication styles (Crompton, Hallett, et al, 2020). Consistently, studies have found better relational outcomes within than cross-autistic and non-autistic neurotypes, including higher accuracy of information transfer , higher self-rated and externally observed interpersonal rapport in dyadic interactions (Crompton, Sharp, et al, 2020), and stronger intention for future interactions (Morrison et al, 2020). Studies with the non-autistic population have further shown that similarity in broad autism phenotype and autistic traits were associated with better friendship quality and relationship satisfaction, regardless of the length of the relationship, participants' level of aloofness, and the average level of autistic traits between in the pair (Bolis et al, 2020;Faso et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Peer preferences and characteristics of same-group and cross-group social interactions among autistic and non-autistic adolescents

Chen

Senande

Thorsen

et al. 2021

Autism

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Social interaction is inherently bidirectional, but research on autistic peer interactions often frames communication as unidirectional and in isolation from the peer context. This study investigated natural peer interactions among six autistic and six non-autistic adolescents in an inclusive school club over 5 months (14 45-min sessions in total) to examine the students’ peer preferences in real-world social interactions and how the preferences changed over time. We further examined whether social behavior characteristics differ between student and peer neurotype combinations. Findings showed that autistic students were more likely to interact with autistic peers then non-autistic peers. In both autistic and non-autistic students, the likelihood of interacting with a same-neurotype peer increased over time. Autistic and non-autistic students’ within-neurotype social interactions were more likely to reflect relational than functional purposes, be characterized as sharing thoughts and experiences rather than requesting help or objects, and be highly reciprocal, as compared with cross-neurotype interactions. These peer preferences and patterns of social interactions were not found among student-peer dyads with the same genders. These findings suggest that peer interaction is determined by more than just a student’s autism diagnosis, but by a combination of student and peer neurotypes. Lay abstract Autistic students often experience challenges in peer interactions, especially for young adolescents who are navigating the increased social expectations in secondary education. Previous research on the peer interactions of autistic adolescents mainly compared the social behaviors of autistic and non-autistic students and overlooked the peers in the social context. However, recent research has shown that the social challenges faced by autistic may not be solely contributed by their social differences, but a mismatch in the social communication styles between autistic and non-autistic people. As such, this study aimed to investigate the student-and-peer match in real-world peer interactions between six autistic and six non-autistic adolescents in an inclusive school club. We examined the odds of autistic and non-autistic students interacting with either an autistic peer, a non-autistic peer, or multiple peers, and the results showed that autistic students were more likely to interact with autistic peers then non-autistic peers. This preference for same-group peer interactions strengthened over the 5-month school club in both autistic and non-autistic students. We further found that same-group peer interactions, in both autistic and non-autistic students, were more likely to convey a social interest rather than a functional purpose or need, be sharing thoughts, experiences, or items rather than requesting help or objects, and be highly reciprocal than cross-group social behaviors. Collectively, our findings support that peer interaction outcomes may be determined by the match between the group memberships of the student and their peers, either autistic or non-autistic, rather than the student’s autism diagnosis.

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Neurotype-Matching, but Not Being Autistic, Influences Self and Observer Ratings of Interpersonal Rapport

Cited by 95 publications

References 67 publications

Autistic Self-Advocacy and the Neurodiversity Movement: Implications for Autism Early Intervention Research and Practice

Autistic Self-Advocacy and the Neurodiversity Movement: Implications for Autism Early Intervention Research and Practice

Overcoming the Double Empathy Problem Within Pairs of Autistic and Non-autistic Adults Through the Contemplation of Serious Literature

Peer preferences and characteristics of same-group and cross-group social interactions among autistic and non-autistic adolescents

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