Improving communication between autistic and non-autistic individuals

This research was funded through a South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SCDTP) and a Postdoctoral Fellowship allowing Gemma Williams to complete and further doctoral research with Professor Angie Hart.

Autistic people often experience difficulties with social communication. It is so common, in fact, that is it one of the central criteria for an autism diagnosis (see: DSM-5 criteria, APA, 2013). Social communication difficulties impact all areas of life and can contribute to things such as poor mental health outcomes and reduced opportunities for fulfilling social interactions as well as barriers to health and social care, education and employment.

For a long time, researchers thought that these difficulties were due to autistic cognitive and social 'deficits'. When autism is seen as a disorder in this way, autistic people are thought of as not being able to communicate 'normally'. However, autism is now increasingly also thought of as a form of "neurodivergence" i.e. one particular way of being that is 'different, not less' to the majority (Fletcher-Watson and Happé, 2019: 23).

Because issues around autistic communication are so important, they were identified as a top priority for autism research by stakeholders in the most recent independent priority-setting report (James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership, in Cusack and Sterry, 2016: 6). Despite this, however, they remain 'relatively little studied' (Happé and Frith, 2020: 12).

The fellowship allowed wide sharing and build on the findings of Gemma Williams' PhD research, which applied a fresh, emancipatory perspective to a cognitive linguistic study of autistic social communication. A theory called the double empathy problem (Milton, 2012) argues that non-autistic people have just as much trouble understanding autistic people, and that problems of mutual understanding between autistic and non-autistic speakers is best thought of as a two-way affair. The research takes the double empathy problem as its starting point and tries to provide an explanation, in technical cognitive linguistic terms using relevance theory (Sperber and Wilson 1986/1995), for why mutual understanding can sometimes break down.

The activities of the fellowship centred around three key outputs, each designed with accessibility and meaningful stakeholder engagement in mind. While the primary aim was to maximise impact of the research itself on social policy and engagement with a broader autdience, these activities also facilitated and supported Gemma Williams' development as an Early Career Researcher and prepared her for a successful academic career in Social Policy-oriented research.
Planned activities:

1) To establish and work in partnership with a stakeholder Advisory Group to coproduce a set of recommendations or guidance notes around best practice for communication between autistic and non-autistic speakers, specifically in health and social care settings. We will collectively consider an output strategy for our findings, so that they have the greatest chance possible of being embedded within the UK's forthcoming National Strategy for Disabled People.

2) To write and publish a public science-style monograph, written for a general readership, that presents the novel theoretical contributions from my PhD research. The publication and dissemination of this research will increase the visibility of my research profile while maximising the impact of this vital work on autistic verbal communication on social policy.

3) To work coproductively with a local community organisation, Figment Arts, to create a series of short, animated 'explainer' videos, presenting the empirical findings of my research in an engaging and accessible way. Figment Arts will support a small group of local autistic artists to learn animation skills and to illustrate, plan and make the videos. These would be designed to be shared widely online, via social media, and would also be posted to the dedicated project webpage, hosted on the established Boingboing website. [see link]

Acknowledgements
Blessing Godfree, NHS Frimley CCG
David Keaveney-Sheath, South-East Learning Disability and Autism Programme, NHS England
Gemma L. Williams (co-ordinator), Centre of Resilience for Social Justice, University of Brighton and National
Development Team for Inclusion
Helen Cave
Jamie + Lion, Jamie + Lion Limited
Jodie Wood
Jon Adams, Autistic Advocate, Researcher and Artistic Director: Flow Observatorium
Karen Forrest, Specialist Occupational Therapist and Advanced Sensory Integration Practitioner
Mary Doherty, Dept of Neuroscience, Brighton & Sussex Medical School.
Nick Chown, London South Bank University
Peter Bull, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Rachel Fricker
Ria Foster
Rosie Murray, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Sebastian C. K. Shaw, Department of Medical Education, Brighton and Sussex Medical School
Tish Marrable, University of Sussex
Tré Ventour-Griffiths, Public Historian of Black British History.

Publications
Proff I (2022) Sensory processing in autism across exteroceptive and interoceptive domains. in Psychology & Neuroscience
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Quadt L (2021) "I'm trying to reach out, I'm trying to find my people" - A mixed-methods investigation of loneliness and loneliness distress in autistic adults
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Quadt L (2023) "I'm Trying to Reach Out, I'm Trying to Find My People": A Mixed-Methods Investigation of the Link Between Sensory Differences, Loneliness, and Mental Health in Autistic and Nonautistic Adults in Autism in Adulthood
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Williams G (2023) Improving the Sensory Environments of Mental Health in-patient Facilities for Autistic Children and Young People in Child Care in Practice