Heasman, B;
Gillespie, A;
(2018)
Neurodivergent intersubjectivity: Distinctive features of how autistic people create shared understanding.
Autism
10.1177/1362361318785172.
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Abstract
Autistic people are neurologically divergent, yet approaches to studying autism are framed by neurotypical definitions of being social. Using the concept of intersubjectivity, which conceptualises a variety of ways of socially relating, we investigate distinctive features of how autistic people build social understanding. A total of 30 members of a charity supporting adults with autism were video-recorded during a social activity they enjoyed, namely collaborative video gaming. Mapping the coherence, affect and symmetry of each conversational turn revealed shifting patterns of intersubjectivity within each interaction. Focussing on clusters of consistent and fragmented turns led us to identify two features of neurodivergent intersubjectivity: a generous assumption of common ground that, when understood, led to rapid rapport, and, when not understood, resulted in potentially disruptive utterances; and a low demand for coordination that ameliorated many challenges associated with disruptive turns. Our findings suggest that neurodivergent intersubjectivity reveals potential for unconventional forms of social relating and that a within-interaction analysis is a viable methodology for exploring neurodivergent communication. Future research should examine the varieties of neurodivergent intersubjectivity, with associated problems and potentials, and how those forms of intersubjectivity can be enabled to flourish, particularly in autistic-to-neurotypical encounters.
Type: | Article |
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Title: | Neurodivergent intersubjectivity: Distinctive features of how autistic people create shared understanding |
Location: | England |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
DOI: | 10.1177/1362361318785172 |
Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1362361318785172 |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | double empathy, friendships, intersubjectivity, neurodivergence, neurodiversity, norms, qualitative research, social interaction, video gaming, within-interaction variation |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10061474 |
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