The narrative coherence of witness transcripts in children on the autism spectrum

Challenges in determining whether youth with autism spectrum disorder have been sexually abused: implications for forensic interviewing

“…Before discussing specific forensic interviewing strategies for use with youth with ASD, it is important to note three things. First, research has found that youth with ASD can give narrative reports of events, often as well as their neurotypical peers (Henry et al , 2020). Henry et al (2020) analyzed 104 transcripts of interviews from children with ASD or neurotypical children aged 6–11 years about a witnessed event.…”

“…First, research has found that youth with ASD can give narrative reports of events, often as well as their neurotypical peers (Henry et al , 2020). Henry et al (2020) analyzed 104 transcripts of interviews from children with ASD or neurotypical children aged 6–11 years about a witnessed event. They found that the children with ASD did not differ from the neurotypical children in length of narrative, semantic diversity of the grammar elements in the story, the coherence of the narrative or the accuracy of what was reported.…”

“…They found that the children with ASD did not differ from the neurotypical children in length of narrative, semantic diversity of the grammar elements in the story, the coherence of the narrative or the accuracy of what was reported. However, it has been found that children with ASD report fewer details in their narratives than do neurotypical children (Henry et al , 2020; Krackow, 2018).…”

Police suspect interviews with autistic adults: The impact of truth telling versus deception on testimony

“…Relatedly, social communication and memory differences in autism present substantial challenges for providing best evidence’ during investigative interviews ( Maras, 2021 ). Autistic mock-witnesses often provide less detailed free-recall accounts ( Maras and Bowler, 2011 , 2012 ; Henry et al, 2020 ) due in part to autism-common difficulties with episodic memory retrieval, exacerbated by insufficiently specific, structured questioning ( Maras, 2021 ). More broadly, autistic individuals may produce less coherent and causally connected narrative versions of events with fewer key contextualizing details ( Barnes and Baron-Cohen, 2012 ; Baixauli et al, 2016 ; but see Henry et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Autistic mock-witnesses often provide less detailed free-recall accounts ( Maras and Bowler, 2011 , 2012 ; Henry et al, 2020 ) due in part to autism-common difficulties with episodic memory retrieval, exacerbated by insufficiently specific, structured questioning ( Maras, 2021 ). More broadly, autistic individuals may produce less coherent and causally connected narrative versions of events with fewer key contextualizing details ( Barnes and Baron-Cohen, 2012 ; Baixauli et al, 2016 ; but see Henry et al, 2020 ). Indeed, autistic adults more often fail to recognize and report extricating details that would help demonstrate their innocence of mock-criminal offences ( Young and Brewer, 2020 ).…”