Little is known about how persons with autism spectrum conditions acquire foreign languages. To a... more Little is known about how persons with autism spectrum conditions acquire foreign languages. To augment the literature with the experiences of autistic persons, trained raters coded discussion forum posts for categories such as method of learning, number of languages mentioned, and outcomes of learnings. Compared to forum posts on non-autism websites, posts on autism forums were more likely to report reading and writing as strengths and listening/speaking as deficits. Autistic posters more often reported intrinsic motivation for learning, being a polyglot, and having a special interest in learning language; they were also less likely to report attaining fluency. These reported experiences provide a foundation for future quantitative research.
User-led autism discussion forums provide a wealth of information about autistic lived experience... more User-led autism discussion forums provide a wealth of information about autistic lived experience, albeit oriented towards those who regularly use computers. We contend that health-care professionals should read autism discussion forums to gain insight, be informed, and in some cases, to correct assumptions about autistic persons' lives and possibilities. To argue our case, we conducted content analysis on 300 posts (71,000 words, mostly from Reddit and Quora). No users promulgated misinformation, but classic autism myths were discussed with examples of when elements of myths may be valid. We established that forums contain high-value information for clinicians by documenting that all concepts in the DSM 5 text revision were discussed by posters in the years before the text revision appeared. Forums are also useful for researchers by complementing traditional surveys and interviews. The relative ease of forum analysis lowers the bar for entry into the research process.
Poster presented at the New England Psychological Association (NEPA), Worcester, MA. , 2018
How do persons who self-identify as having autism report their experience of second/foreign langu... more How do persons who self-identify as having autism report their experience of second/foreign language learning? We propose a "different strategies" hypothesis: autistic individuals with verbal abilities will use their systemizing strengths to compensate for their reduced social abilities in order to learn a foreign language. Systemizing, the ability to analyze a multifaceted system, is a strength of those with autism. Qualitative analysis was used to analyze posts in online discussion forums where foreign language learning experiences were discussed. A thematic coding system was developed and two naive raters were trained to code posts for 20 theoretically relevant categories, including method of learning, number of languages mentioned, and outcomes of learning. We found that having a positive experience with reading and writing, while having a negative experience with speaking and listening, was more common in individuals with ASD. Additionally, avoiding conversation and a...
Little is known about how persons with autism spectrum conditions acquire foreign languages. To a... more Little is known about how persons with autism spectrum conditions acquire foreign languages. To augment the literature with the experiences of autistic persons, trained raters coded discussion forum posts for categories such as method of learning, number of languages mentioned, and outcomes of learnings. Compared to forum posts on non-autism websites, posts on autism forums were more likely to report reading and writing as strengths and listening/speaking as deficits. Autistic posters more often reported intrinsic motivation for learning, being a polyglot, and having a special interest in learning language; they were also less likely to report attaining fluency. These reported experiences provide a foundation for future quantitative research.
User-led autism discussion forums provide a wealth of information about autistic lived experience... more User-led autism discussion forums provide a wealth of information about autistic lived experience, albeit oriented towards those who regularly use computers. We contend that health-care professionals should read autism discussion forums to gain insight, be informed, and in some cases, to correct assumptions about autistic persons' lives and possibilities. To argue our case, we conducted content analysis on 300 posts (71,000 words, mostly from Reddit and Quora). No users promulgated misinformation, but classic autism myths were discussed with examples of when elements of myths may be valid. We established that forums contain high-value information for clinicians by documenting that all concepts in the DSM 5 text revision were discussed by posters in the years before the text revision appeared. Forums are also useful for researchers by complementing traditional surveys and interviews. The relative ease of forum analysis lowers the bar for entry into the research process.
Poster presented at the New England Psychological Association (NEPA), Worcester, MA. , 2018
How do persons who self-identify as having autism report their experience of second/foreign langu... more How do persons who self-identify as having autism report their experience of second/foreign language learning? We propose a "different strategies" hypothesis: autistic individuals with verbal abilities will use their systemizing strengths to compensate for their reduced social abilities in order to learn a foreign language. Systemizing, the ability to analyze a multifaceted system, is a strength of those with autism. Qualitative analysis was used to analyze posts in online discussion forums where foreign language learning experiences were discussed. A thematic coding system was developed and two naive raters were trained to code posts for 20 theoretically relevant categories, including method of learning, number of languages mentioned, and outcomes of learning. We found that having a positive experience with reading and writing, while having a negative experience with speaking and listening, was more common in individuals with ASD. Additionally, avoiding conversation and a...
Uploads
Papers by Tiffany Mcglowan