Jaswal & Akhtar (J&A) contend that social motivation accounts of autism are dehumanising and that a failure to assume social motivation is present in autistic people has “devastating” results. They go on to select four common features of autistic behaviour that have been invoked as evidence of the absence of social motivation, which may instead be attributed to other phenomena.
We agree that for many autistic people, social motivation and interest may be signalled by non-conventional means and that non-autistic people in general, including non-autistic autism researchers, should not presume that a lack of conventional social behaviour signals a lack of social motivation. Autistic people may use social cues that fall outside social norms, including differences in facial expressivity and use of gaze (Faso et al. Reference Faso, Sasson and Pinkham2015; Neumann et al. Reference Neumann, Spezio, Piven and Adolphs2006), and these cues may not be perceived as “social” by neurotypical others. J&A are likewise correct that many autistic characteristics have multiple potential explanations, including a key role for the behaviour of non-autistic social partners. We also agree that listening to the views of autistic people is a crucial part of understanding autistic experiences – including of course their social experiences and motivations.
However, we do not agree that we ought to conclude that all autistic people are motivated to engage in social interactions with others. And furthermore, we do not agree that a social motivation account is necessarily dehumanising or negatively impactful. Instead, we raise three counter-arguments, as follows.
First, different, diminished, or absent social motivation may be present in some autistic people, and indeed this is reported in the literature, as in the title quote of a recent paper: “Sometimes I Want to Play by Myself” (Calder et al. Reference Calder, Hill and Pellicano2013). This lack of social motivation is not reliably predicted by cognitive or social skills and therefore may be experienced across the spectrum (Calder et al. Reference Calder, Hill and Pellicano2013). Concluding that all autistic people are socially motivated (but that this motivation is signalled in unconventional ways) carries risks for autistic people. Those who wish to have less intense or less frequent social contact may find their physical and mental space invaded by well-meaning individuals determined to read social motivation into their behaviours. Instead, the solution to the problem that “being socially motivated is considered by some to be an essential part of being human” (TA sect. 1) is to reject the one-to-one correspondence between social motivation and humanity. We ought to recognise that the variability between autistic people encompasses varying degrees and types of social motivation – as well as multiple methods of signalling social interest – and accept all people regardless of how enthusiastic they are about spending time with other people. Acknowledging and embracing differences in autistic social motivation is a move towards an inclusive spectrum and can help in designing and adapting appropriate support for autistic people.
Second, reliance on the personal accounts of autistic people as evidence that social motivation is present in autism is subject to bias, because not all autistic people are willing or able to share their experiences in this way. Written autobiographies not only largely represent the experiences of cognitively able autistic people, but also, by definition, represent the experiences of people who are motivated to share their stories with others. There is, as yet, no systematic evidence from self-report sources on the distribution of social motivation among autistic people. This is likely to vary widely between individuals and within individuals, depending on context. Mapping variability in the autistic experience is essential. Data from experimental tasks and neuropsychological assessments consistently demonstrate extensive heterogeneity among people with an autism diagnosis, and we should expect – and seek to chart and understand – similar variability in their lived experiences.
Finally, if some autistic people are indeed less motivated by social interaction than others, this has important and positive consequences for how we enable autistic people to learn and thrive. One positive benefit of a social motivation account of autism (though admittedly this is not a feature of the social motivation–focused interventions cited in this target article) is that it can be used to justify the creation of learning and support spaces – such as learning technologies – that do not rely on social motivators.
Thus, we should not reject the social motivation hypothesis just yet. Instead, we advocate for continued exploration of autistic motivations and learning, adopting three methodological approaches that are still rare in the literature. First, systematic explorations of the social experiences of autistic people are required to diversify understanding of the autistic community, especially to capture the motivations of those with learning disabilities and language disorders. Second, cross-cultural research contrasting manifestations and experiences of autism in relation to differing social interactive norms are essential to expose more of the interplay between individual differences and societal expectations. Third, specific investigations of how social motivation for autistic people varies when in autistic and non-autistic company can reveal contextual factors that influence sociality.
In conclusion, rather than reframing all autistic people as being socially motivated, we advocate embracing neurodiversity, including acceptance of those who do not find social interactions generally motivating.
Jaswal & Akhtar (J&A) contend that social motivation accounts of autism are dehumanising and that a failure to assume social motivation is present in autistic people has “devastating” results. They go on to select four common features of autistic behaviour that have been invoked as evidence of the absence of social motivation, which may instead be attributed to other phenomena.
We agree that for many autistic people, social motivation and interest may be signalled by non-conventional means and that non-autistic people in general, including non-autistic autism researchers, should not presume that a lack of conventional social behaviour signals a lack of social motivation. Autistic people may use social cues that fall outside social norms, including differences in facial expressivity and use of gaze (Faso et al. Reference Faso, Sasson and Pinkham2015; Neumann et al. Reference Neumann, Spezio, Piven and Adolphs2006), and these cues may not be perceived as “social” by neurotypical others. J&A are likewise correct that many autistic characteristics have multiple potential explanations, including a key role for the behaviour of non-autistic social partners. We also agree that listening to the views of autistic people is a crucial part of understanding autistic experiences – including of course their social experiences and motivations.
However, we do not agree that we ought to conclude that all autistic people are motivated to engage in social interactions with others. And furthermore, we do not agree that a social motivation account is necessarily dehumanising or negatively impactful. Instead, we raise three counter-arguments, as follows.
First, different, diminished, or absent social motivation may be present in some autistic people, and indeed this is reported in the literature, as in the title quote of a recent paper: “Sometimes I Want to Play by Myself” (Calder et al. Reference Calder, Hill and Pellicano2013). This lack of social motivation is not reliably predicted by cognitive or social skills and therefore may be experienced across the spectrum (Calder et al. Reference Calder, Hill and Pellicano2013). Concluding that all autistic people are socially motivated (but that this motivation is signalled in unconventional ways) carries risks for autistic people. Those who wish to have less intense or less frequent social contact may find their physical and mental space invaded by well-meaning individuals determined to read social motivation into their behaviours. Instead, the solution to the problem that “being socially motivated is considered by some to be an essential part of being human” (TA sect. 1) is to reject the one-to-one correspondence between social motivation and humanity. We ought to recognise that the variability between autistic people encompasses varying degrees and types of social motivation – as well as multiple methods of signalling social interest – and accept all people regardless of how enthusiastic they are about spending time with other people. Acknowledging and embracing differences in autistic social motivation is a move towards an inclusive spectrum and can help in designing and adapting appropriate support for autistic people.
Second, reliance on the personal accounts of autistic people as evidence that social motivation is present in autism is subject to bias, because not all autistic people are willing or able to share their experiences in this way. Written autobiographies not only largely represent the experiences of cognitively able autistic people, but also, by definition, represent the experiences of people who are motivated to share their stories with others. There is, as yet, no systematic evidence from self-report sources on the distribution of social motivation among autistic people. This is likely to vary widely between individuals and within individuals, depending on context. Mapping variability in the autistic experience is essential. Data from experimental tasks and neuropsychological assessments consistently demonstrate extensive heterogeneity among people with an autism diagnosis, and we should expect – and seek to chart and understand – similar variability in their lived experiences.
Finally, if some autistic people are indeed less motivated by social interaction than others, this has important and positive consequences for how we enable autistic people to learn and thrive. One positive benefit of a social motivation account of autism (though admittedly this is not a feature of the social motivation–focused interventions cited in this target article) is that it can be used to justify the creation of learning and support spaces – such as learning technologies – that do not rely on social motivators.
Thus, we should not reject the social motivation hypothesis just yet. Instead, we advocate for continued exploration of autistic motivations and learning, adopting three methodological approaches that are still rare in the literature. First, systematic explorations of the social experiences of autistic people are required to diversify understanding of the autistic community, especially to capture the motivations of those with learning disabilities and language disorders. Second, cross-cultural research contrasting manifestations and experiences of autism in relation to differing social interactive norms are essential to expose more of the interplay between individual differences and societal expectations. Third, specific investigations of how social motivation for autistic people varies when in autistic and non-autistic company can reveal contextual factors that influence sociality.
In conclusion, rather than reframing all autistic people as being socially motivated, we advocate embracing neurodiversity, including acceptance of those who do not find social interactions generally motivating.