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Conversation Analysis: A Tool for Analysing Interactional Difficulties Faced by Children with Asperger’s Syndrome

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A Practical Guide to Social Interaction Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Part of the book series: The Language of Mental Health ((TLMH))

Abstract

In this chapter, Rendle-Short demonstrates how conversation analysis advances our understanding of the interactional difficulties faced by children with diagnoses of Asperger’s syndrome (DSM-IV). The focus is on different contexts in which a child might pause or be silent and how such pauses are responded to. The first context is an intra-turn pause that occurs within a turn-at-talk that is introducing a new topic of conversation. The second context is an inter-turn pause or gap that occurs between turns-at-talk, following a question. The final context builds on the previous two sections by analysing a small video interaction of two children engaged in a spontaneous activity, with the pause occurring after the other child has fallen down because she has hurt herself. It highlights how conversation analysis can be used as a pedagogic tool for teachers, parents, and children. By teaching children the principles of the methodology, they become their own mini-analysts, enabling them to better understand their interactional contributions and how such contributions might be responded to.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The DSM (American Psychiatric Association, 2000; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) is a manual prepared by psychologists for diagnosis of the full range of people with psychiatric disorders.

  2. 2.

    For discussion of key interactional features of CA, see Sidnell (2010a) or Schegloff (2007).

  3. 3.

    Extracts 1–3 were discussed in Rendle-Short (2014). The paper analyses predictable and less predictable environments and how interactional scaffolding can increase the likelihood that children with Asperger’s syndrome will be able make a contribution to the ongoing interaction within a more predictable environment.

  4. 4.

    Data was collected as part of a study investigating how children diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome interact within the home and school environment. All children are 8 years old; all gave permission for the recording; pseudonyms were used throughout.

  5. 5.

    This interaction highlights the difficulty of obtaining recordings of children with Asperger’s syndrome within naturally occurring settings—Will knows that he is being video recorded and so this example starts off with him telling the audience of the recording what it means to have Asperger’s syndrome.

  6. 6.

    A recent report from Autism Spectrum Australia states that “[w]omen appeared to be more socially isolated, with only around half (52%) stating that they were happy with their current level of friendships and social activities. In contrast 67% of men reported they were happy with their social life” (p. 3). https://www.autismspectrum.org.au/sites/default/files/PDFuploads/Girls%20and%20women%20on%20the%20autism%20spectrum.pdf.

  7. 7.

    Further evidence of the disruption is that the mother reported that the two children were not friends a week later.

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Recommended reading

  • Rendle-Short, J. (2014). Using conversational structure as an interactional resource: Children with Aspergers Syndrome and their conversational partners. In J. Arciuli & J. Brock (Eds.), Communication in Autism, trends in language acquisition research series (pp. 212–238). Amsterdam; Philadelphia: John Benjamin Publishing Company.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Australian National University, School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Johanna Rendle-Short

Authors
  1. Johanna Rendle-Short
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

    Michelle O'Reilly

  2. Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA

    Jessica Nina Lester

  3. Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom

    Tom Muskett

Appendix

Appendix

Transcription conventions are based on Gail Jefferson’s notation (presented in Atkinson and Heritage (1984) and Jefferson (2004)). The principal notions are as follows:

hello.:

falling terminal intonation

hello,:

slight rising intonation

hello¿:

rising intonation, weaker than that indicated by a question mark

hello?:

strongly rising terminal intonation

hel-:

talk that is cut off

>hello<:

talk is faster than surrounding talk

<hello>:

talk is slower than surrounding talk

HELLO:

talk is louder than surrounding talk

˚hello˚:

talk is quieter than surrounding talk

he::llo:

an extension of a sound or syllable

hello:

emphasised talk

(1.0):

timed intervals

(.):

short untimed pause

.hh:

audible inhalations

hh:

audible exhalations

=:

latched talk

[ ]:

overlapping talk

( ):

transcriber uncertainty

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Rendle-Short, J. (2017). Conversation Analysis: A Tool for Analysing Interactional Difficulties Faced by Children with Asperger’s Syndrome. In: O'Reilly, M., Lester, J., Muskett, T. (eds) A Practical Guide to Social Interaction Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. The Language of Mental Health. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59236-1_12

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