Comparing Frequency of Listener Responses Between Adolescents with and Without ASD During Conversation.

This was an observational comparison, not an intervention study, so it cannot show that teaching listener feedback improves conversation. Participants were adolescents with ASD who had language and IQ scores within the normal range, so findings may not apply to people with more severe communication or cognitive difficulties. The study counted how often feedback occurred but not whether it was appropriate, well timed, or helpful. The conversation was a semi-structured interview with an unfamiliar adult, not a spontaneous conversation with a familiar partner, so it may not generalise to everyday talk. The research assistant’s own feedback and responses were not fully controlled, and different assistants and answers may have changed the opportunities for feedback. Interview length differed between groups, and the analysis converted feedback to per-minute rates; longer interviews may still have changed the interaction. The correlation between SCQ scores and feedback across all participants was not significant within the ASD or NT groups alone. Some gaze data were lost when photographs were held up, and three participants were excluded for eyetracking problems.

Do not conclude that adolescents with autism avoid eye contact or have a general deficit in listener feedback. The study found similar mutual gaze time between groups, and verbal feedback did not differ significantly between groups.