Speech Intelligibility for Autistic People In Multi-Speaker Environments

Differences in speech-in-noise comprehension have long been established as a common feature of autism. However, much of the previous research has focused on identifying an autistic ‘deficit’, rather than forming a holistic understanding of what could be done to make environments more accessible for an aurally diverse population. Therefore, less work has been done into understanding what implications these differences have on the day-to-day lives of autistic people, and how this maps onto their experiences in real-world environments. With multi-speaker settings identified as an area of focus, this study uses Ambisonics recordings to simulate four different soundscapes. As well as measuring speech intelligibility using the Modified Rhyme Test, participants’ perceptions of the environments were assessed using soundscape assessment methodologies from PD ISO 12913-2, part of the Acoustics –Soundscapes series of standards. Analysis of the results suggests a moderate negative correlation between perceived eventfulness and speech intelligibility scores, but no correlation between pleasantness and speech intelligibility. These results are discussed within the context of what is already known about autistic listening, as well as the wider field of aural diversity.