Turn-Taking Transitions in Conversations Among Autistic–Autistic, Non-Autistic–Non-Autistic, and Mixed-Neurotype Adult Pairs

Background: The Double Empathy Theory proposes that communication difficulties between autistic and non-autistic individuals arise from mutual misunderstandings rather than individual deficits. This study examines how autistic–autistic, non-autistic–non-autistic, and mixed-neurotype adult pairs coordinate conversations. We aimed to determine how neurotype matches or mismatches affect the types and durations of turn-taking transitions, backchannels, temporal alignment, and task performance. Methods: Thirty-two autistic and thirty-six non-autistic English-speaking adults were paired into autistic–autistic, non-autistic–non-autistic, or mixed-neurotype dyads. Each pair interacted virtually in a tangram task, alternating roles as describer and selector. A turn-taking coding scheme identified utterance segmentation and conversational events. Results: Turn-exchanges with a gap (perceived silence) were the most frequent transition type across all pairs. Matched autistic pairs produced significantly more gapless transitions than the other dyads. Mixed-neurotype dyads showed significantly longer gap durations between turns than both autistic–autistic and non-autistic–non-autistic dyads. Non-autistic–non-autistic pairs exhibited the highest proportion of backchanneling, while autistic–autistic pairs exhibited the highest proportion of simultaneous talk. Only in non-autistic–non-autistic pairs overlap frequency was associated with reduced rapport. Conclusions: Findings demonstrate distinct patterns in turn-taking dynamics across neurotype pairings, supporting the Double Empathy Theory highlighting the need for neurodiversity-informed rather than deficit-based approaches.