Talking About Experiences of Interactionally Troublesome Exchanges: Reported Speech in Interactions with Preadolescents on the Autism Spectrum.

The article investigates how Finnish-speaking boys aged 11–13 with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) use reported speech in storytelling to describe their experiences of interactionally troublesome exchanges during group therapy sessions. Using conversation analysis, the study examines which utterances are quoted directly or indirectly, the lexical and prosodic features of these reported utterances, and how story closures are managed, revealing that participants often present themselves with detailed honesty—even when it casts them in an unfavorable light—differing from typical neurotypical storytelling norms that emphasize positive self-presentation. The findings highlight unique narrative strategies among individuals with ASD, including less concern for impression management and challenges in organizing stories around a clear moral point, which have implications for clinical and educational support aimed at improving social communication, narrative coherence, and conflict resolution.