Atypical Interaction presents a state-of-the-art overview of research which uses conversation analysis to explore how communicative impairments impact on conversation and other forms of talk and social interaction. Although the majority of people use spoken language unproblematically in social interaction, many individuals have an atypical capacity for communication. The first collection of its kind, this book examines a wide range of conditions where the communication of children or adults is atypical, including autism spectrum disorder, dementia, stammering, hearing impairment, schizophrenia, dysarthria and aphasia. By analyzing recordings of real-life interactions, the collection highlights not only the communication difficulties and challenges faced by atypical communicators and their interlocutors in everyday life, but also the competences and often novel forms of communication displayed.

With fourteen empirical chapters from leading scholars in the field and an introductory chapter which provides a background to conversation analysis and its application to the study of atypical interactions, the collection will be an invaluable resource for students, practitioners such as speech and language therapists, and researchers with an interest in human communication, communication diversity and disorder.