This study from @Brett_Heasman is so interesting, and so positive to read! Here is a long thread of some summary, quotes, and my favourite things about the study. 1/ journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13…
It analyses the way autistic people interacted while playing video games, and it considers the interactions from the ground-up rather than from neurotypical expectations like most research. 2/
The overall impression is that autistic interactions tend to seem quite fragmented and variable (like crossing topics a lot and not always seeming to respond to things), but also often have bursts of close coherence (like sharing obscure references and creating new meanings). 3/
The authors identify two main features of autistic communication that contribute:
1. Generous assumption of common ground
2. Low demand for coordination
4/
1. Generous assumption of common ground
2. Low demand for coordination
4/
1. Generous assumption of common ground. In a lot of interactions, autistic people would make specific references, imitate characters, or otherwise mention things that would only make sense with certain prior knowledge. 5/
They'd often do this *without* checking that prior knowledge exists beforehand, or following up to check it was understood afterwards. The reference itself is an enjoyable contribution to the interaction, regardless of whether the other person fully understands it. 6/
Sometimes this would result in apparently disconnected interactions if references were being passed and not directly responded to. But sometimes it would result in extremely coherent interactions of responding to subtle references in kind, like quoting scenes from TV. 7/
The result is an overall 'spiky' impression of coherence in interaction - veering from completely disconnected to moments of quick intense bonding over niche topics. 8/
2. Low demand for coordination. The autistic participants would not be overly troubled if an interaction was not very coherent. Missed references, misunderstood jokes, and ignored questions are easily passed over, rather than being focused on as a major problem to solve. 9/
This can look like ignoring a conversation partner, but it also helps a conversation to keep flowing. This is why passing unrelated references back and forth is still a successful interaction - because neither person is overly upset by lack of direct response. 10/
This overall gives an impression of having a disconnected interaction, but not being bothered by it. Autistic people are more tolerant of social misunderstandings! 11/
As well as identifying those two general features, the study has several lovely examples of autistic interactions, and how the participants cope perfectly fine with some situations that would most likely cause neurotypical people distress or confusion. 12/
In one example, players quote lines from a reference-withing-reference in a TV show. "[T]he generous assumption of common ground produces highly coherent, affective and symmetric coordination – but without knowing the cultural references, it might appear fragmented." 13/
In another, players identify a new enemy using a film reference and then refer to it that way throughout. "[P]layers are able to develop shared language on the basis of their shared cultural resources which allows them to creatively index and orientate to novel problems." 14/
In another, Billy jokes about telling Susan the wrong button to shoot with, and Susan doesn't realise it's a joke. She reacts with confusion and Billy doesn't seem to acknowledge that he was initially joking, so they talk about the controls some more. 15/
But they quickly move on and no-one is upset, "thus the misunderstanding leads to greater certainty about the functions of the game controller during gameplay, as evidenced by Susan’s first action in the game, which is to shoot Billy." 16/
In another, two players maintain parallel conversations about completely unrelated topics for some time. They eventually converge on a similar topic and move smoothly into responding to each other directly, without any apparent discomfort. 17/
"[I]t allows the players to build rapport and knowledge, since they are free to drift between individual and cooperative ways of verbalising their relationships to the situation, even if to the neurotypical observer this process may appear disjointed to begin with." 18/
So many great things about this study as a whole! It's lovely to see autistic-autistic interactions being studied and recognised for the fact that we so often seem to find it easier to interact with each other. 19/
As well as just analysing autistic communication neutrally, rather than through the pervasive lens of pathology. Acknowledging things that we're better at, and how that might look weird to outsiders but we manage it just fine. 20/
The discussion mentions how neurotypical people would have trouble with the fragmented kind of interactions the autistic participants had: "they interpret such fragmentation as failures needing to be addressed – thus limiting the potential of the conversation to move on." 21/
This is obviously only one study about a specific niche, but I'm excited, and I hope this starts a trend. "Certainly, a first step to allowing neurodivergent intersubjectivity to flourish is to recognise it as having distinctive features that can be enabling." 22/22 🎉
