Collaboration Dynamics in Autistic/Non-Autistic Teams During Simulated Remote Assembly: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Employment is an essential step toward independence in adulthood, yet autistic individuals can face barriers here. As workplace collaboration is important, this study examined how neurodiverse dyads (i.e., one autistic, one non-autistic individual) worked together on tasks when assigned different roles. We recruited 17 dyads and present preliminary behavioral coding analysis for five dyads across six collaboration domains. Initial results showed that for more restrictive tasks where information was limited to one member, the averages of the behavioral codes were higher, indicating more collaboration. In particular, the domain which captured problem solving discussions had the highest scores when the autistic individual held the task instructions. Notably, patterns across collaboration domains were similar regardless of how roles were as-signed. Our findings point toward opportunities to bring out the strengths of neurodiverse teams in the workplace.