Autistic individuals benefit from gestures during degraded speech comprehension / Sara MAZZINI ; Noor SEIJDEL ; Linda DRIJVERS in Autism, 29-2 (February 2025)  

Public ISBD [article]  inAutism > 29-2 (February 2025) . - p.544-548 Titre : Autistic individuals benefit from gestures during degraded speech comprehension : Autism Type de document : texte imprimé Auteurs : Sara MAZZINI, Auteur ; Noor SEIJDEL, Auteur ; Linda DRIJVERS, Auteur Article en page(s) : p.544-548 Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : autism  degraded speech comprehension  multimodal language  multisensory integration  speech-gesture integration Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Meaningful gestures enhance degraded speech comprehension in neurotypical adults, but it is unknown whether this is the case for neurodivergent populations, such as autistic individuals. Previous research demonstrated atypical multisensory and speech-gesture integration in autistic individuals, suggesting that integrating speech and gestures may be more challenging and less beneficial for speech comprehension in adverse listening conditions in comparison to neurotypicals. Conversely, autistic individuals could also benefit from additional cues to comprehend speech in noise, as they encounter difficulties in filtering relevant information from noise. We here investigated whether gestural enhancement of degraded speech comprehension differs for neurotypical (n = 40, mean age = 24.1) compared to autistic (n = 40, mean age = 26.8) adults. Participants watched videos of an actress uttering a Dutch action verb in clear or degraded speech accompanied with or without a gesture, and completed a free-recall task. Gestural enhancement was observed for both autistic and neurotypical individuals, and did not differ between groups. In contrast to previous literature, our results demonstrate that autistic individuals do benefit from gestures during degraded speech comprehension, similar to neurotypicals. These findings provide relevant insights to improve communication practices with autistic individuals and to develop new interventions for speech comprehension. Lay Abstract Our study explored how meaningful hand gestures, alongside spoken words, can help autistic individuals to understand speech, especially when the speech quality is poor, such as when there is a lot of noise around. Previous research has suggested that meaningful hand gestures might be processed differently in autistic individuals, and we therefore expected that these hand gestures might aid them less in understanding speech in adverse listening conditions than for non-autistic people. To this end, we asked participants to watch and listen to videos of a woman uttering a Dutch action verb. In these videos, she either made a meaningful gesture while speaking, or not, and speech was clear, or noisy. The task for participants was to identify the verb in the videos. Contrary to what we expected, we found that both autistic and non-autistic individuals use meaningful information from hand gestures when understanding unclear speech. This means that gestural information can aid in communication, especially when communicative settings are suboptimal. En ligne : https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13623613241286570 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=548 [article] Autistic individuals benefit from gestures during degraded speech comprehension : Autism [texte imprimé] / Sara MAZZINI, Auteur ; Noor SEIJDEL, Auteur ; Linda DRIJVERS, Auteur . - p.544-548. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Autism > 29-2 (February 2025) . - p.544-548 Mots-clés : autism  degraded speech comprehension  multimodal language  multisensory integration  speech-gesture integration Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Meaningful gestures enhance degraded speech comprehension in neurotypical adults, but it is unknown whether this is the case for neurodivergent populations, such as autistic individuals. Previous research demonstrated atypical multisensory and speech-gesture integration in autistic individuals, suggesting that integrating speech and gestures may be more challenging and less beneficial for speech comprehension in adverse listening conditions in comparison to neurotypicals. Conversely, autistic individuals could also benefit from additional cues to comprehend speech in noise, as they encounter difficulties in filtering relevant information from noise. We here investigated whether gestural enhancement of degraded speech comprehension differs for neurotypical (n = 40, mean age = 24.1) compared to autistic (n = 40, mean age = 26.8) adults. Participants watched videos of an actress uttering a Dutch action verb in clear or degraded speech accompanied with or without a gesture, and completed a free-recall task. Gestural enhancement was observed for both autistic and neurotypical individuals, and did not differ between groups. In contrast to previous literature, our results demonstrate that autistic individuals do benefit from gestures during degraded speech comprehension, similar to neurotypicals. These findings provide relevant insights to improve communication practices with autistic individuals and to develop new interventions for speech comprehension. Lay Abstract Our study explored how meaningful hand gestures, alongside spoken words, can help autistic individuals to understand speech, especially when the speech quality is poor, such as when there is a lot of noise around. Previous research has suggested that meaningful hand gestures might be processed differently in autistic individuals, and we therefore expected that these hand gestures might aid them less in understanding speech in adverse listening conditions than for non-autistic people. To this end, we asked participants to watch and listen to videos of a woman uttering a Dutch action verb. In these videos, she either made a meaningful gesture while speaking, or not, and speech was clear, or noisy. The task for participants was to identify the verb in the videos. Contrary to what we expected, we found that both autistic and non-autistic individuals use meaningful information from hand gestures when understanding unclear speech. This means that gestural information can aid in communication, especially when communicative settings are suboptimal. En ligne : https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13623613241286570 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=548

Exploring auditory perception experiences in daily situations in autistic adults / Elena Sofia SILVA in Autism, 30-2 (February 2026)  

Public ISBD [article]  inAutism > 30-2 (February 2026) . - p.439-451 Titre : Exploring auditory perception experiences in daily situations in autistic adults Type de document : texte imprimé Auteurs : Elena Sofia SILVA, Auteur ; Linda DRIJVERS, Auteur ; James P. TRUJILLO, Auteur Article en page(s) : p.439-451 Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : auditory perception  autism  hearing  self-identifying autism  speech understanding Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Autistic individuals often show differential sensory perception, including hypo- or hypersensitivities to sound. Previous research also suggests that autistic individuals often have difficulty processing intentional and affective cues in speech acoustics. However, general speech processing difficulties remain underexplored. We investigated self-reported auditory perception using the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Questionnaire among autistic (self-identifying (n = 18) and clinically diagnosed (n = 45)) and non-autistic adults (N = 66). The study was conducted in the Netherlands, but the questionnaire and call for participation were in English and open to anyone regardless of country of residence. Both clinically diagnosed and self-identifying individuals with autism reported significantly lower scores on the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Questionnaire score and on the Speech subscale compared with non-autistic individuals, indicating challenges in overall quality of auditory perception, speech comprehension. Clinically diagnosed individuals also showed lower scores on the quality and spatial subscales compared with non-autistic individuals. Post hoc analysis further suggested that speech hearing is particularly challenging for many autistic individuals. In addition, our finding that self-identifying and clinically diagnosed autistic individuals show similar patterns of hearing difficulties emphasizes the need for more inclusive research practices that collect the experiences of all the individuals in the autistic community in the study of sensory perception in autism.Lay abstract Autistic individuals often have very different sensory experiences compared with non-autistic individuals. One anecdotally mentioned, but not well-researched phenomenon is difficulty processing what we are hearing. Rather than challenges related to language understanding, such as nonliteral or indirect language, autistic people may also have more difficulty making sense of the sounds of their environment. This may be hearing where particular sounds are coming from, or understanding what is being said, particularly in noisy situations. To bring more attention and clarity to this challenge, we asked autistic and non-autistic adults to fill out a short survey that measures one’s hearing experiences in daily life. We found that autistic individuals report more difficulty across several types of hearing, and most prominently regarding speech hearing, when compared with non-autistic individuals. This finding highlights that reports of auditory processing difficulties when there is no hearing loss are not niche experiences, but rather reflect a common experience in autistic adults. In addition, we found that clinically diagnosed and self-identifying individuals reported very similar experiences. This highlights the validity of self-identification/self-diagnosis for research aimed at understanding autistic experiences. This study, therefore, emphasizes the need for more research and awareness regarding auditory perception and hearing in autistic adults. The study also emphasizes the value of more inclusive research practices that collect the experiences of all individuals within the autism community. En ligne : https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13623613251391492 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=579 [article] Exploring auditory perception experiences in daily situations in autistic adults [texte imprimé] / Elena Sofia SILVA, Auteur ; Linda DRIJVERS, Auteur ; James P. TRUJILLO, Auteur . - p.439-451. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Autism > 30-2 (February 2026) . - p.439-451 Mots-clés : auditory perception  autism  hearing  self-identifying autism  speech understanding Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Autistic individuals often show differential sensory perception, including hypo- or hypersensitivities to sound. Previous research also suggests that autistic individuals often have difficulty processing intentional and affective cues in speech acoustics. However, general speech processing difficulties remain underexplored. We investigated self-reported auditory perception using the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Questionnaire among autistic (self-identifying (n = 18) and clinically diagnosed (n = 45)) and non-autistic adults (N = 66). The study was conducted in the Netherlands, but the questionnaire and call for participation were in English and open to anyone regardless of country of residence. Both clinically diagnosed and self-identifying individuals with autism reported significantly lower scores on the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Questionnaire score and on the Speech subscale compared with non-autistic individuals, indicating challenges in overall quality of auditory perception, speech comprehension. Clinically diagnosed individuals also showed lower scores on the quality and spatial subscales compared with non-autistic individuals. Post hoc analysis further suggested that speech hearing is particularly challenging for many autistic individuals. In addition, our finding that self-identifying and clinically diagnosed autistic individuals show similar patterns of hearing difficulties emphasizes the need for more inclusive research practices that collect the experiences of all the individuals in the autistic community in the study of sensory perception in autism.Lay abstract Autistic individuals often have very different sensory experiences compared with non-autistic individuals. One anecdotally mentioned, but not well-researched phenomenon is difficulty processing what we are hearing. Rather than challenges related to language understanding, such as nonliteral or indirect language, autistic people may also have more difficulty making sense of the sounds of their environment. This may be hearing where particular sounds are coming from, or understanding what is being said, particularly in noisy situations. To bring more attention and clarity to this challenge, we asked autistic and non-autistic adults to fill out a short survey that measures one’s hearing experiences in daily life. We found that autistic individuals report more difficulty across several types of hearing, and most prominently regarding speech hearing, when compared with non-autistic individuals. This finding highlights that reports of auditory processing difficulties when there is no hearing loss are not niche experiences, but rather reflect a common experience in autistic adults. In addition, we found that clinically diagnosed and self-identifying individuals reported very similar experiences. This highlights the validity of self-identification/self-diagnosis for research aimed at understanding autistic experiences. This study, therefore, emphasizes the need for more research and awareness regarding auditory perception and hearing in autistic adults. The study also emphasizes the value of more inclusive research practices that collect the experiences of all individuals within the autism community. En ligne : https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13623613251391492 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=579

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