ABSTRACT
Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition diagnosed by differences in social interaction and communication. Most autistic people also experience atypical sensory processing (e.g., a heightened sensitivity to sound or texture). Nearly all autism research uses a deficit model, where differences between autistic and non-autistic people are characterised as impairments of the autistic people. Even the superior pitch recognition of autistic people is framed as a deficit. However, anecdotal accounts from autistic people suggest there may be much more to be discovered about autistic perceptual organisation if a deficit model is abandoned. Lay language reports from individuals suggest strengths in aural awareness, in soundscape decomposition, and in sensitivity to small changes at different scales. This chapter reviews anecdotal and structured evidence of autistic listening, from the perspective of an autistic psychoacoustics researcher.
