Autism Voices: A novel method to access first-person perspective of autistic youth.
Valérie Courchesne, Rackeb Tesfaye, Pat Mirenda and 5 others
PMID 34482746WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic teenagers across the spectrum, including minimally verbal youth, engaged in interviews when questions used picture cards and allowed answers via writing, texting, or pointing.
Parents sometimes helped communication, but older verbal teens preferred interviewing without them.
Key findings
01All participants engaged in the interview and actively interacted with the interviewer, even those who were minimally verbal or had lower nonverbal intelligence scores.
02Open-ended 'wh' questions and questions using negative phrasing were particularly challenging for participants to understand.
03Echolalia, the most common alternative communication form observed, served an interactive purpose rather than acting as a barrier to communication.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study did not analyze the content of the participants' answers, only the process of communication. Providing picture cards with specific examples could introduce response bias, potentially leading to less authentic answers. Some participants showed social desirability bias, such as putting 'everything' in the 'like' category or using fixed 'yes' responses. The study relied on a single session per participant, which may not capture variability in mood or context.
Declared interests
The project was supported by NeuroDevNet, the Government of British Columbia, and CIHR. Specific authors received support from CIHR, FRQS, Wellcome Trust, NIHR, Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, and the Azrieli Center for Autism Research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that minimally verbal autistic adolescents cannot participate in interviews or have valid opinions. The study showed they engaged actively when communication methods were adapted, such as using picture cards and allowing written or texted responses.