Rethinking Social Communication Support: Exploring Communication Partner Training for Autistic Adults and Their...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience and Psychology
• Speech and Language Therapy

Background:

• Autistic and neurotypical individuals often face communication challenges and misunderstandings.
• Current interventions primarily focus on modifying autistic behaviors, neglecting the interactional dynamics and partner's role.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose Communication Partner Training (CPT) as a framework for social communication support for autistic adults and their neurotypical partners.
• To explore the application of CPT principles, adapted from acquired communication differences, to the autism context.

Main Methods:

• Reviewing CPT principles used with acquired communication differences (e.g., aphasia, TBI).
• Highlighting key CPT components: understanding communication profiles, adapting environments, and collaborative strategies.
• Drawing on the experiences of a mixed-neurotype team of clinicians, researchers, and advocates.

Main Results:

• CPT can be adapted to support autistic adults and their neurotypical communication partners.
• Key CPT components include promoting understanding, environmental adaptation, and collaborative strategy development.
• Existing CPT models offer valuable insights for autism communication support.

Conclusions:

• CPT provides a promising, interactional framework for social communication support in autism.
• Future research should co-design CPT programs with autistic adults, considering intersectionality and fluctuating communication needs.
• CPT can be extended to newly diagnosed autistic adults, autistic youth, and their communication partners.