Autistic adults and adults with sub-clinical autistic traits differ from non-autistic adults in social-pragmatic inferencing and narrative discourse.
Autistic adults and those with sub-clinical traits favor event details over big-picture social meanings when they explain stories.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Dindar et al. (2023) asked three groups of adults to watch short social scenes and then retell the story. One group had autism, one had sub-clinical autistic traits, and one was neurotypical.
The team compared how each group explained what happened and why. They looked at whether people focused on small details or on the big social picture.
What they found
Autistic adults and adults with sub-clinical traits told stories packed with facts and events. They named objects, actions, and sequences more than the neurotypical group.
The same two groups rarely gave broad social meanings. They seldom said things like 'she felt left out' or 'he wanted to impress them.' The style was mixed: rich on detail, light on interpretation.
How this fits with other research
Colle et al. (2008) saw the same detail focus earlier. Their autistic adults used fewer pronouns and time words. Katja’s 2023 data extend that pattern to people who do not have a full diagnosis but still show traits.
King et al. (2014) found autistic children write shorter, less connected stories. The new adult results match the child picture, showing the style lasts across the lifespan.
Chapple et al. (2021) looks opposite at first glance. Their autistic adults said reading fiction helps them understand people. The two studies do not truly clash. Melissa asked, 'Do you gain empathy from books?' Katja asked, 'How do you explain a scene right now?' Self-reported benefit can coexist with lab-measured style differences.
Why it matters
If you run social-skills groups, expect some adults to give you play-by-play instead of feelings or motives. Do not rush to mark it as wrong; it is their normal style. You can build bridges by first echoing the facts they offer, then gently adding the social layer. Try explicit prompts like 'What might she be thinking?' or 'Why did he walk away?' Over time, pair these prompts with real-life rewards to make the social leap worth the effort.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Previous social-pragmatic and narrative research involving autistic individuals has mostly focused on children. Little is known about how autistic adults and adults who have autistic traits but do not have a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) interpret complex social situations and tell narratives about these situations. We asked 32 autistic young adults, 18 adults with autistic traits but no ASD diagnosis, and 34 non-autistic young adults to watch socially complex situations and freely tell narratives about what they thought was occurring in each situation. These narratives were analysed for how the participants had interpreted the situations and for the type of narratives they produced. We found that the groups had both similarities and differences. Regarding the differences, we found that the autistic adults and adults with autistic traits interpreted the situations differently from the non-autistic adults. The autistic adults found different aspects of the situations relevant, had different foci and placed greater importance on details than the non-autistic adults. The autistic adults and adults with autistic traits also differed from the non-autistic adults by having more detail- and event-focused narratives whereas the non-autistic adults were more likely to base their narratives on their own broad interpretations of the situations. Perceptual processing styles appeared to play a bigger role in interpreting the situations for the autistic adults and adults with autistic traits than the non-autistic adults. Our findings suggest that autistic adults and adults with autistic traits focus on different aspects in their social world than non-autistic adults.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2023 · doi:10.1177/13623613221136003