Neurodivergent intersubjectivity: Distinctive features of how autistic people create shared understanding

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Heasman, B. & Gillespie, A. (2018). Neurodivergent intersubjectivity: Distinctive features of how autistic people create shared understanding. Autism, 23(4), 910-921. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361318785172

Publication date: 3 Aug 2018 Added to AutiHub: 30 Aug 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
2
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 2 (50.0%)
  1. Brett Heasman *
  2. Alex Gillespie

Abstract

Autistic people are neurologically divergent, yet approaches to studying autism are framed by neurotypical definitions of being social. Using the concept of intersubjectivity, which conceptualises a variety of ways of socially relating, we investigate distinctive features of how autistic people build social understanding. A total of 30 members of a charity supporting adults with autism were video-recorded during a social activity they enjoyed, namely collaborative video gaming. Mapping the coherence, affect and symmetry of each conversational turn revealed shifting patterns of intersubjectivity within each interaction. Focussing on clusters of consistent and fragmented turns led us to identify two features of neurodivergent intersubjectivity: a generous assumption of common ground that, when understood, led to rapid rapport, and, when not understood, resulted in potentially disruptive utterances; and a low demand for coordination that ameliorated many challenges associated with disruptive turns. Our findings suggest that neurodivergent intersubjectivity reveals potential for unconventional forms of social relating and that a within-interaction analysis is a viable methodology for exploring neurodivergent communication. Future research should examine the varieties of neurodivergent intersubjectivity, with associated problems and potentials, and how those forms of intersubjectivity can be enabled to flourish, particularly in autistic-to-neurotypical encounters.

Bibliography cited by this reference

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 12 Sep 2026 18:17.

Cited references
64
With a DOI
55
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
9
6 / 64 (9.4%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
4 / 64 (6.2%)
References with detected author names
62 / 64 (96.9%)
Without detected author names
2
Without a structured title
4
Without a stable identifier
8
References with raw author names still to review
2
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
148
From DOI or external metadata
148
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
2
33 / 148 (22.3%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 115 / 148 (77.7%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
7 / 148 (4.7%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 7 / 33 (21.2%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 5 / 136 (3.7%).
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