Communication in autism
Collaborative project with Napoleon Katsos (University of Cambridge), Chris Cummins (University of Edinburgh) and Stavroula Alexandropoulou (UCL).
This project focuses on the communicative profile of autistic people adopting a new perspective which focuses on difference rather than deficiency. Our project combines experimental linguistics with principles of neurodiversity, inclusive methodologies, and participatory approaches. The case study is the language of
quantity: numerals, quantifiers (‘One hundred people went to the concert; most of them had fun’) and generic generalisations (‘Concerts are fun’), which is everyday vocabulary that has remained unexplored in autism. We will also study figurative language (metaphor and metonymy).
We have recently completed our first study on generics with autistic and neurotypical individuals recruited online. Stay tuned for more!