The purpose of this study is to examine prosodic speech pause across two groups: neurotypicals and autistic young adults. Conversational speech samples were collected from 11 neurotypical and 11 autistic young adults between the ages of 18 and 26. Speech samples were subsequently transcribed and analyzed using Praat Software. The boundaries of between and within utterance pauses were identified, as well as acoustically determining if the pause was filled, silent, or a combination of both. Data analysis is in progress and is estimated to be completed by August 2025. The goal of the study is to add to the limited body of research on prosody in autistic adults. By understanding acoustic and prosodic differences between autistic and neurotypical young adults, clinicians will be enabled to better provide evidence-based assessment and intervention for autistic young adults, thereby improving their quality of life.
Johnson et al. (Wed,) studied this question.