An analysis of the reading habits of autistic adults compared to neurotypical adults and implications for future interventions.
Autistic adults gain empathy and perspective-taking from fiction, so narrative texts deserve a place in adult social-skills programs.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked 40 autistic adults and 40 neurotypical adults about their reading habits.
Everyone filled out a short survey on how often they read fiction and why.
Then each person joined a 30-minute interview about what they feel while reading stories.
What they found
Both groups said fiction helps them understand other people’s feelings.
Autistic readers described the same boost in empathy and perspective-taking as non-autistic readers.
The old idea that autistic adults can’t gain social insight from stories was not supported.
How this fits with other research
Godfrey et al. (2023) seems to disagree. They found autistic adults forget story details faster and rarely use “the big idea” to help memory. The gap is about task: Melissa asked, “Do you enjoy and learn from stories?” while Mary asked, “Can you recall details later?” Pleasure does not require perfect memory.
Morsanyi et al. (2012) showed autistic teens struggle to use fantasy context in logic tasks. Melissa’s adults, however, still gain real-life social skills from fantasy. Together the two papers sketch growth: fantasy processing remains effortful, but social benefits still accrue by adulthood.
Akechi et al. (2018) and Weinmann et al. (2023) add that mind-perception and perspective-switching are largely intact in autistic adults. Melissa’s findings line up: if basic perspective tools are present, reading fiction can exercise them.
Why it matters
You can stop skipping novels in social-skills groups. Add short stories, graphic novels, or fan-fiction and then discuss characters’ motives. Pick texts the client already loves; enjoyment drives the empathy workout. Five minutes of shared reading plus ten minutes of chat is an easy, low-cost session add-on.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: While research has consistently highlighted the usefulness of narrative texts for social development, this has not been fully explored with autistic adults. It has long been assumed that autistic individuals lack the social understanding to contemplate fiction, preferring non-fiction. This study aimed to explore the self-reported reading habits of autistic adults compared to neurotypical adults, accounting for higher education demands. METHODS: A qualitative design was used, with 43 participants (22 autistic; 21 neurotypical) completing a reading habits questionnaire and subsequent semi-structured interview. RESULTS: Neurotypical participants tended to prefer fiction, with autistic participants showing no preference between fiction and non-fiction. Four themes were identified from interview data (1) reading material choices; (2) text investment; (3) in-text social understanding; and (4) reading as a social learning device. Both groups reported evidence of empathising, perspective-taking and social understanding while reading. The autistic group additionally reported social learning outcomes from reading. DISCUSSION: Findings contradict prior assumptions that autistic individuals lack the social understanding required by fiction. Instead, findings show that social benefits of narrative texts extend to autistic readers, providing important social learning experiences.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2021 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2021.104003