About

Vikram Jaswal is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. His research has addressed a range of topics in typical development, including word learning, categorization, memory development, and social cognition. His current research focuses on communication in autism—specifically, the cognitive and social processes underlying communication in nonspeaking autistics, and how some parents and their nonspeaking children develop unconventional but successful ways of communicating with each other.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Developmental psychology
• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Medicine
• Linguistics
• Epistemology
• Cognitive psychology
• Social psychology

Selected publications

• Independent Typers Exist: A Reply to Letters on Why We Need to Study Assisted Methods to Teach Typing

  Autism Research · 2026-05-13

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Why We Need to Study Assisted Methods to Teach Typing to Nonspeaking Autistic People

  Autism Research · 2026-01-12 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  At least one third of autistic people have limited or no speech. Most nonspeaking autistic people are never provided alternatives that would enable the full range of expression that speech allows, significantly limiting their access to educational, social, and employment opportunities. In this commentary, we argue that assisted methods to teach nonspeaking autistic people to type-long dismissed because the assistant could influence the text they produce during training-warrant fresh study. Although these teaching methods developed in practice rather than research, the practice (including the range of support the assistant provides in the motor, sensory, and attentional domains) is aligned with contemporary research about nonspeaking autistic people's strengths and challenges. We suggest that past research showing that influence can occur during training has been over-interpreted to mean that influence always occurs and that nonspeaking autistic people instructed using assisted methods never learn to type independently. In fact, other research shows that influence does not always occur, and there are independent typers who attribute their skill to the range of assistance they received during training. We believe it is time to revisit assisted methods to teach typing in order to understand their potential, as well as their limits, including how successful learners became independent and for whom these methods would be a good match. These efforts have the potential to result in greater access to effective communication and better quality of life for more nonspeaking autistic people.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Linguistic Accommodation made by Non-autistic Speakers in Response to Being Told the Listener is Autistic

  2026-01-24

  articleOpen access

  Many people adjust their speech to accommodate listeners who may face comprehension difficulties, including older adults and non-native speakers, giving rise to registers such as Elderspeak and Foreigner-Directed Speech. In the current pre-registered study, we investigated whether non-autistic speakers similarly modified their speech in interactions with listeners who disclosed they were autistic. We used the Map Task paradigm; 33 participants (mean age = 36 years) gave verbal instructions to a confederate in two conditions: one in which the confederate disclosed being autistic and the other in which they did not. Participants did not show evidence of linguistic accommodation toward the autistic listener on any of the linguistic measures we coded for, including speech rate, syntactic complexity (e.g., MLU), semantic complexity (e.g., type-token ratio) and discourse features (e.g., repetitions). Although there was no average difference on these measures between the autistic and non-autistic listener conditions, exploratory analyses showed that more positive attitudes toward autism were associated with lower degree of accommodation to the autistic listener on one measure, MLU. No associations were found between level of contact and degree of accommodation. These findings suggest that an autism label alone does not cue linguistic accommodations, and that more positive attitudes towards autism may reduce the likelihood of linguistically accommodating autistic listeners.

  PublisherDOI

• Autistic and Non-Autistic Undergraduates’ Responses to a Textbook Vignette on Autism

  2026-01-15

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Background. Autistic college students’ well-being may be negatively affected by deficit-focused portrayals of autism in assigned material.Objective. This study investigated how autistic and non-autistic undergraduates responded to an abnormal psychology textbook vignette about an autistic child.Method. Autistic (n = 86) and non-autistic (n = 86) college students read the vignette, rated how offensive, stigmatizing, and useful it was, and provided state self-esteem ratings. Results. Autistic students rated the vignette as more offensive and stigmatizing and as less useful than did non-autistic students. Additionally, more autistic than non-autistic students reported lower self-esteem after reading the vignette compared to before reading it. Conclusions. These findings highlight potential harms of deficit-focused portrayals of autism in educational materials and underscore the need for more respectful representations.Teaching Implications. Instructors should recognize that autistic students may interpret some textbook portrayals of autism negatively, and they should assign materials that highlight autistic strengths as well as challenges.

  PublisherDOI

• HapTechBoard: Haptically Grounded AR Letterboards for Inclusive Spelling Practice

  HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · 2026-06-08

  articleOpen access

  International audience

  Publisher

• Autistic and Non-Autistic Undergraduates’ Responses to a Textbook Vignette on Autism

  PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · 2026-01-14

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Background. Autistic college students’ well-being may be negatively affected by deficit-focused portrayals of autism in assigned material. Objective. This study investigated how autistic and non-autistic undergraduates responded to an abnormal psychology textbook vignette about an autistic child. Method. Autistic (n = 86) and non-autistic (n = 86) college students read the vignette, rated how offensive, stigmatizing, and useful it was, and provided state self-esteem ratings. Results. Autistic students rated the vignette as more offensive and stigmatizing and as less useful than did non-autistic students. Additionally, more autistic than non-autistic students reported lower self-esteem after reading the vignette compared to before reading it. Conclusions. These findings highlight potential harms of deficit-focused portrayals of autism in educational materials and underscore the need for more respectful representations. Teaching Implications. Instructors should recognize that autistic students may interpret some textbook portrayals of autism negatively, and they should assign materials that highlight autistic strengths as well as challenges.

  Publisher

• Linguistic Accommodation made by Non-autistic Speakers in Response to Being Told the Listener is Autistic

  PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · 2026-01-24

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Many people adjust their speech to accommodate listeners who may face comprehension difficulties, including older adults and non-native speakers, giving rise to registers such as Elderspeak and Foreigner-Directed Speech. In the current pre-registered study, we investigated whether non-autistic speakers similarly modified their speech in interactions with listeners who disclosed they were autistic. We used the Map Task paradigm; 33 participants (mean age = 36 years) gave verbal instructions to a confederate in two conditions: one in which the confederate disclosed being autistic and the other in which they did not. Participants did not show evidence of linguistic accommodation toward the autistic listener on any of the linguistic measures we coded for, including speech rate, syntactic complexity (e.g., MLU), semantic complexity (e.g., type-token ratio) and discourse features (e.g., repetitions). Although there was no average difference on these measures between the autistic and non-autistic listener conditions, exploratory analyses showed that more positive attitudes toward autism were associated with lower degree of accommodation to the autistic listener on one measure, MLU. No associations were found between level of contact and degree of accommodation. These findings suggest that an autism label alone does not cue linguistic accommodations, and that more positive attitudes towards autism may reduce the likelihood of linguistically accommodating autistic listeners.

  Publisher

• Grab-and-Release Spelling in XR: A Feasibility Study for Nonspeaking Autistic People Using Video-Passthrough Devices

  2025-07-04 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Autism Terminology Preferences Among Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults in North America

  Autism in Adulthood · 2025-02-03 · 6 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Making space for Autistic people with ‘complex support needs’: Recommendations for inclusive research practices

  2025-12-11 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The neurodiversity movement has reshaped how autism is conceptualized, represented, and increasingly researched. Yet Autistic people with complex support needs (CSN) – including those who are minimally- or non-speaking, use augmentative and alternative communication, or require intensive daily support – remain disproportionately excluded from both neurodiversity discourse and participatory research. In this commentary, we clarify the relationship between the neurodiversity paradigm and Autistic people with CSN, addressing persistent misconceptions that the movement overlooks disability or minimizes support needs. Drawing on theoretical analysis, empirical evidence, and recent research experiences involving Autistic people with CSN, we argue that when applied rigorously, the neurodiversity paradigm offers a powerful framework for advancing autonomy, dignity, and inclusion for those with the most complex support needs. We examine structural, attitudinal, and methodological barriers that limit participation, and highlight emerging studies demonstrating that inclusive, co-produced research with Autistic people with CSN is both possible and beneficial. Finally, we offer four actionable recommendations to guide researchers in creating conditions that support meaningful involvement of Autistic people with CSN throughout the research process. Ensuring that participatory approaches include those historically excluded is not only an ethical imperative but essential for producing accurate, responsive, and socially just autism research.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R03HD053403

  NIH · $150k · 2010

Frequent coauthors

• Diwakar Krishnamurthy

  9 shared

• Lorans Alabood

  University of Calgary

  8 shared

• Nameera Akhtar

  7 shared

• Ellen M. Markman

  Stanford University

  7 shared

• Robyn L. Kondrad

  James Madison University

  7 shared

• Andrew J. Lampi

  University of Virginia

  6 shared

• Carolyn M. Palmquist

  Amherst College

  6 shared

• Zoë S. Robertson

  University of Virginia

  4 shared

Labs

• Jaswal LabPI

Education

• PhD, Psychology

  Stanford University

  2003

• MA, Psychology

  Stanford University

  2000

• MSc, Neuroscience

  University of Edinburgh

  1997

• BA, Psychology

  Columbia University

  1995