Social Interaction Style in Autism: A Narrative Review of Social Behaviors and Outcomes in Autistic and Neurotypical Interactions

Social interaction difficulties are a defining feature of autism. Historically, research has concentrated on comparing the social behaviors of autistic and neurotypical individuals in cross-neurotype dyads, often attributing challenges in communication to autistic social deficits. However, recent studies on interactions between two autistic individuals provide new insights, suggesting that some social difficulties may at least partially arise from mutual misunderstandings. This narrative review analyzes 25 studies on autistic, mixed, and neurotypical interactions, highlighting consistent differences (e.g., reduced mutual gaze and backchanneling in autistic interactions) and similarities between autistic and neurotypical social interactions (e.g., turn-taking), as well as measurements yielding mixed results (e.g., social motor synchrony). We discuss the variability in social behaviors, interaction outcomes, and study designs in the literature and interpret the existing findings in the light of individual deficits and relational difficulties. We emphasize the need for future research to consider both same- and mixed-neurotype interactions and to include perspectives from neurotypical as well as autistic individuals to enhance our understanding of social interaction in autism.