Peer-reviewed research
Real world evidence for altered communication patterns in individuals with autism spectrum disorder
Mehran Turna, npj Digital Medicine, 2025 · DOI 10.1038/s41746-025-01545-x
Read the originalRead on October 16, 2026
- What it is
- A 2025 observational study that passively logged four months of smartphone communication apps for adults with autism spectrum disorder and for neurotypical controls, sorting each app as verbal, written or mixed.
- How much weight it carries
- Peer-reviewed, with an objective method that avoids self-report. The sample is small and the study measures app use, not dictation, so it shows a preference for typed messages rather than whether voice input helps.
Facts taken from this source
- The study passively logged smartphone communication over a period of four months, rather than asking participants to report their habits.
“by monitoring smartphone-based communication for verbal, written, and mixed app categories over a period of four months” (Abstract)
- In a four-month smartphone study, adults with autism spectrum disorder preferred written over verbal communication, compared with neurotypical controls.
“We find ASD participants to prefer written over verbal communication” (Abstract)