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The monotropic anchor

Focused interests as dialogic resources in face-to-face interactions of autistic university students

 | Nicolaus Copernicus University
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Abstract
Autism is often framed through communicative difficulties. Using a CA-informed discourse analysis of nine video-recorded dyadic semi-spontaneous interactions among 18 Polish autistic university students, this paper shows how focused interests, especially gaming, are mobilised as dialogic resources for topic development, affiliation and management of epistemic asymmetries. Across two contrastive cases, participants use multi-unit turns, recipient-designed explanations, continuers, laughter, and self-deprecation to maintain progressivity and calibrate differences in knowledge. The paper introduces the concept of the monotropic anchor: a focused interest that, when interactionally taken up, organises a shared dialogic focus. Drawing on Weigand’s Mixed Game Model, the analysis shows how interlocutors pursue communicative purposes, adapt their actions, and cooperate despite epistemic asymmetries. The findings support neurodiversity-affirming accounts of autistic sociality and dialogue.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: From deficit to divergence and interest-based autistic interactions
  • 2.Data and methods
    • 2.1Analytic procedure
    • 2.2Analytic concepts
    • 2.3Ethics
  • 3.Analysis and discussion
    • 3.1Case Study 1: Shared gaming interest
    • 3.2Case Study 2: Non-shared gaming interest
  • 4.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgments
  • Note
  • References
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