Reduced nonverbal interpersonal synchrony in autism spectrum disorder independent of partner diagnosis: a motion energy study.

The study was small and underpowered, especially for linking synchrony to how pleasant or easy participants found the interactions. Participants were adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism and at least average IQ, so it says nothing about autistic people who need more support or have lower verbal ability. Autistic participants volunteered for stranger conversations, which may select people who are comfortable with social interaction or motivated to practise it. ASD-ASD dyads were matched on diagnosis, but autism is heterogeneous, so partners may still have very different interaction styles. The knock-knock joke task was excluded because no dyad completed it, and one mixed ice-breaker video was replaced with average values. Motion energy analysis cannot track moving body regions or details such as movement direction, velocity, or the meaning of posture. Some autistic participants took psychotropic medications or had depressive symptoms, which can affect nonverbal movement, although the study did not find significant differences in movement energy for these subgroups.

The funding note names Universität zu Köln. The supplied text does not report other conflicts of interest.

Do not conclude that lower synchrony means a worse social outcome. The study did not show that synchrony predicted pleasantness or likeability, and exploratory correlations were not significant.