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The organisation of who speaks when in conversation is perhaps the most fundamental aspect of human communication. Research on a wide variety of groups of speakers has revealed a seemingly universal preference for between-speaker transitions consisting of very short silent gaps. Previous research on conversational turn-taking in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) consists of only a handful of studies, most of which are limited in scope and based on the non-spontaneous speech of children and adolescents. No previous studies have investigated dialogues between autistic adults. We analysed the conversational turn-taking behaviour of 28 adult native German speakers in two groups of dyads, in which both interlocutors either did or did not have a diagnosis of ASD. We found no clear difference in turn-timing between the ASD and the control group overall, with both groups showing the same preference for very short silent-gap transitions that has been described for many other groups of speakers in the past. We did, however, find a clear difference between groups specifically in the earliest stages of dialogue, where ASD dyads produced considerably longer silent gaps than controls. We discuss our findings in the context of the previous literature, the implications of diverging behaviour specifically in the early stages of conversation, and the general importance of studying the neglected aspect of interactions between autistic adults.

对话中的发言时序组织模式，或许是人类交流最根本的核心特征。针对各类发言群体的相关研究已揭示出一种近乎普适的偏好：说话者间的轮次转换普遍存在极短的沉默间隙。此前针对自闭症谱系障碍（Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD）的对话轮次转换研究数量极少，且多数研究存在范围局限，且均基于儿童与青少年的非自发言语数据。尚无研究针对自闭症成年群体间的对话展开探讨。本研究分析了28名以德语为母语的成年受试者的对话轮次转换行为，将其分为两组双人对话组：一组的两名对话者均确诊为ASD，另一组的两名对话者均未确诊ASD。整体而言，ASD组与对照组在轮次时序上并无显著差异，两组均表现出与此前其他发言群体研究中一致的偏好——即偏好极短沉默间隙的轮次转换模式。但在对话的初始阶段，两组间存在显著差异：ASD双人对话组的沉默间隙长度显著长于对照组。本研究结合已有文献，探讨了对话初始阶段行为差异的潜在意义，以及研究自闭症成年群体间交互这一被忽视领域的重要学术价值。