"It's simply a different way of communicating" - Attitudes on Nonverbal Communication of Autistic Adults in the Netherlands

Most findings on autistic people’s production and processing of nonverbal communication (e.g., co-speech gestures, body movements, or facial expressions) in face-to-face interactions come from controlled lab studies. To shed light on the subjective experience and attitude towards such visual communicative signals of this population, we present results from an online questionnaire, in which 162 autistic participants reported on their use of formalized visual language and their communicative challenges and strategies. We identified and grouped unprompted mentions of nonverbal communication according to attitude (positive vs. negative) and focus (self vs. other). While few participants use sign language or sign-supported speech, their attitude towards visual support tools is positive. We found eye contact and facial expressions to be associated with a negative attitude, while one’s own use of body language
is perceived as positive and others’ as negative.