Studying the Use of Politeness in Employment Specific Scenarios in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Presentation Type
Poster
Faculty Advisor
Ruth Propper
Access Type
Event
Start Date
26-4-2024 11:15 AM
End Date
26-4-2024 12:15 PM
Description
Employment holds significant importance in the lives of adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), yet challenges in social communication often affect their ability to secure and maintain jobs. Understanding these barriers has been difficult due to a lack of assessment tools that evaluate social communication skills in employment settings. To address this gap, the study examines the effectiveness of a specific assessment tool called the Voicemail Elicitation Task (VET), designed to measure social communication skills relevant to employment. The study involved young adults with ASD(n=22) and neurotypical controls (NTC;n=17) who underwent the VET. This tool presented participants with various employment-based scenarios, prompting them to leave voicemail messages. The aim was to measure the use of politeness markers (PMs), which are utterances to indicate consideration of listeners' feelings. PMs fall into two categories: positive, which aim to make the listener feel good, giving compliments, and being friendly. Negative PMs avoid conflict and require careful consideration of the listener's emotions, making them valuable for assessing social communication in individuals with ASD. The results showed that individuals with ASD exhibited lower PMs use, particularly in negative PMs, compared to NTCs. Both groups had similar levels of positive PMs use. These findings suggest that individuals with ASD struggle with employment-specific social communication abilities, which could affect their interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Validating tools like the VET for use in ASD could improve the understanding of social communication deficits and lead to better interventions aimed at enhancing employment outcomes for this population.
Studying the Use of Politeness in Employment Specific Scenarios in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Employment holds significant importance in the lives of adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), yet challenges in social communication often affect their ability to secure and maintain jobs. Understanding these barriers has been difficult due to a lack of assessment tools that evaluate social communication skills in employment settings. To address this gap, the study examines the effectiveness of a specific assessment tool called the Voicemail Elicitation Task (VET), designed to measure social communication skills relevant to employment. The study involved young adults with ASD(n=22) and neurotypical controls (NTC;n=17) who underwent the VET. This tool presented participants with various employment-based scenarios, prompting them to leave voicemail messages. The aim was to measure the use of politeness markers (PMs), which are utterances to indicate consideration of listeners' feelings. PMs fall into two categories: positive, which aim to make the listener feel good, giving compliments, and being friendly. Negative PMs avoid conflict and require careful consideration of the listener's emotions, making them valuable for assessing social communication in individuals with ASD. The results showed that individuals with ASD exhibited lower PMs use, particularly in negative PMs, compared to NTCs. Both groups had similar levels of positive PMs use. These findings suggest that individuals with ASD struggle with employment-specific social communication abilities, which could affect their interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Validating tools like the VET for use in ASD could improve the understanding of social communication deficits and lead to better interventions aimed at enhancing employment outcomes for this population.