Autism and Developmental Language Impairments最新文献

{"title":"The State of Natural Language Sampling in Autism Research: A Scoping Review.","authors":"Samantha N Plate","doi":"10.1177/23969415251341247","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23969415251341247","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Caregiver reports and standardized assessments have been the primary methods used to study language development in autism. However, these forms of measurement are often coarse, complicated by floor effects and reporter bias, and limited by the fact that they only capture how children <i>can</i> use language at a single moment in time, rather than how children <i>actually</i> use language during everyday interactions. These limitations have led to recent calls for the use of natural language sampling (NLS) as a fine-grained, developmentally appropriate, and contextually relevant measure of everyday communication. The number of studies using NLS to study language in autism has increased substantially in the last 15 years, resulting in a wide array of sampling methods and measures. Given both the increasing prevalence of NLS methods in the autism literature and the variability in sampling approaches and measures, this scoping review addresses the following questions: 1. What populations have been studied using NLS?2. Which data collection methods are most prevalent in NLS research?3. How are measures of language derived from NLS?</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, a search for studies published in the last 15 years across three databases was conducted. After removing duplicates, 4,671 titles and abstracts were screened and 59 papers met inclusion criteria. Sample characteristics, natural language collection methods, and derived measures were extracted and tabled for each study. The most prevalent NLS methods and measures in autism language research are reviewed and the benefits and drawbacks of various methods are discussed.</p><p><strong>Main contribution: </strong>This scoping review highlights subgroups of the autistic population that have been underrepresented in NLS studies-in particular, minimally/nonspeaking school-aged autistic children. This article also examines means to collect a \"naturalistic\" sample of language. Notably, studies did not address whether autistic children exhibit different social communication skills when talking to different types of social partners. Broadly, research has underreported key methodological details, making comparisons across studies difficult.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This review highlights the appropriate use of NLS across development in autism and makes recommendations for NLS future research.</p><p><strong>Implications: </strong>Additional work is needed to address the gaps described in this article and replicate previous findings to identify patterns of natural language across the literature.</p>","PeriodicalId":36716,"journal":{"name":"Autism and Developmental Language Impairments","volume":"10 ","pages":"23969415251341247"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12102570/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144143890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Parents' and Early Childhood Educators' Perceptions after the Implementation of the Pragmatic Intervention Programme (PICP).","authors":"Tatiana Pereira, Ana Margarida Ramalho, Marisa Lousada","doi":"10.1177/23969415251330465","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23969415251330465","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The presence of pragmatic language difficulties can be lifelong for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and developmental language disorder (DLD). Implementing evidence-based practices integrates the best research evidence, the clinical expertise of the professionals delivering the intervention and the perspectives of parents/caregivers. Nevertheless, research on parents' and early childhood educators' perspectives on the perceived effectiveness of pragmatic language interventions is scarce. This study aims to analyse parents' and early childhood educators' perceptions after the implementation of the Pragmatic Intervention Programme (PICP) to preschool-age children with ASD and children with DLD. As a part of a broad research project, a survey was conducted using an adaptation of a satisfaction survey. Data from 72 participants among parents (<i>n</i> = 36) and early childhood educators (<i>n</i> = 36) were collected immediately after the implementation of the PICP. The survey includes 11 statements, individually scored between 1 (<i>totally disagree</i>) and 7 (<i>totally agree</i>). The average score obtained from the parents' perspective about the intervention impact was 6.83 ± 0.29. For early childhood educators, the average score was 6.60 ± 0.49. The results indicate that parents and early childhood educators considered this intervention appropriate and effective for improving the pragmatic language skills of preschool-age children with ASD and DLD.</p>","PeriodicalId":36716,"journal":{"name":"Autism and Developmental Language Impairments","volume":"10 ","pages":"23969415251330465"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12075966/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144081214","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Linguistic Markers of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Narrative Production: Evidence From the Monkey Cartoon Storytelling Task of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule.","authors":"Eleni Peristeri, Katerina Drakoulaki, Antonia Boznou, Michaela Nerantzini, Spyridoula Varlokosta","doi":"10.1177/23969415251331045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23969415251331045","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2) is considered a \"gold standard\" diagnostic instrument in the assessment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The Monkey Cartoon task is an optional pictured storytelling task in ADOS-2, which has been designed to assess gestural and verbal communication in autistic children while telling a story. It is well established that storytelling is challenging for autistic children, particularly for the content and coherent organization of the story, also known as narrative macrostructure. Existing evidence on the efficacy of the Monkey Cartoon task to pinpoint differences between autistic and neurotypical individuals in narrative macrostructure is scant. In this study, we used a version of the Monkey Cartoon task with modified scoring to analyze the narrative macrostructural skills of two groups of children with and without ASD. We also investigated the relations between narrative macrostructure and language ability in each group.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A group of 16 Greek-speaking autistic children and 16 age- and IQ-matched neurotypical children were administered the Monkey Cartoon storytelling task. Children's vocabulary and syntactic skills were also measured. Narratives were analyzed in terms of macrostructural features, including story completeness and story grammar, as well as units denoting the setting, internal responses and added details.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The autistic children had lower scores in communicating the story content rather than story grammar. Moreover, the autistic group tended to include less information on the story's setting and more off-topic utterances than their neurotypical peers. Regarding the relations between narrative macrostructure and language ability, the two groups dissociated since the autistic children tended to rely on vocabulary at the expense of including irrelevant information in their narratives, while neurotypical children relied on both lexical and syntactic skills, especially when instantiating references to the story characters' mental states and the setting of the story, respectively.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The Monkey Cartoon storytelling task seems to be efficient at revealing pragmatic weaknesses mainly at the thematic content level in autistic children. Also, the frequent use of semantically- and pragmatically-irrelevant information in storytelling differentiated autistic from neurotypical children, and may thus be treated as a distinguishing feature of ASD in narrative production.</p><p><strong>Implications: </strong>The findings demonstrate the viability of the Monkey Cartoon task in highlighting language markers of ASD in narrative macrostructure, with clinical implications for enhancing clinical practice in countries like Greece that face a shortage of narrative assessment tools for autistic children.</p>","PeriodicalId":36716,"journal":{"name":"Autism and Developmental Language Impairments","volume":"10 ","pages":"23969415251331045"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12078983/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144081213","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Psychometric Properties of the Standardised Instruments that are Used to Measure (Pragmatic) Intervention Effects in Autistic Children: A Systematic Review.","authors":"Tatiana Pereira, Ana Cláudia Lopes, Ana Margarida Ramalho, Marisa Lousada","doi":"10.1177/23969415251341251","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23969415251341251","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Pragmatic language difficulties can negatively influence the learning, socialization, and mental health of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Several studies have sought to determine the effects of interventions, including competencies to help these children use language for social purposes. However, are the instruments used to measure the results of the interventions appropriate and psychometrically adequate? This systematic review aims to analyze the psychometric properties of the standardized instruments that are used to measure the effects of interventions addressing (not exclusively, but also) pragmatic language competencies for autistic children.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, systematic literature research was carried out in four electronic indexing databases: CENTRAL, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 49 studies from 2005 to 2023 were included and 19 standardized instruments were identified.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>After analyzing the instruments psychometric properties, the results indicated that all present some evidence of validity and reliability, but none report responsiveness. Implications: Given the impact that an instrument can have on analyzing the effects of an intervention, this study highlights the importance of considering not only the validity and reliability of an instrument but also responsiveness as a psychometric property, and the need to better describe the rationale for the outcome measures and specify what abilities are being targeted and measured. This will accurately guide future research and improve clinical decision-making around ASD.</p>","PeriodicalId":36716,"journal":{"name":"Autism and Developmental Language Impairments","volume":"10 ","pages":"23969415251341251"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12078967/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144081215","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Supporting Autistic Children's Participation in Research Studies: A Mixed-Methods Study of Familiarizing Autistic Children with A Humanoid Robot.","authors":"Carly McGregor, Elisabeth von dem Hagen, Christopher Wallbridge, Jenna Dobbs, Caitlyn Svenson-Tree, Catherine Rg Jones","doi":"10.1177/23969415251332486","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23969415251332486","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>It is important that autism research is inclusive and supports the participation of a wide range of autistic people. However, there has been limited research on how to make studies accessible for autistic participants. This mixed-methods study explored how to promote the comfort of autistic children in research, using the specific example of visiting a research lab and meeting a humanoid robot. In Phase 1, 14 parents of autistic children were interviewed about how their child could be made comfortable during a lab visit, including different approaches for familiarizing their child with the robot. In Phase 2, autistic children of the parents in Phase 1 (<i>n</i> = 10) visited the lab and completed familiarization activities with a humanoid robot. The opinions of the children and their parents about the children's experiences were recorded. Using reflexive thematic analysis, five overarching themes reflected how to best support autistic child participants. These themes encompassed elements of particular relevance to robot studies but also many practices of general relevance to participating in research: (1) preparation is key, (2) consideration of environmental factors, (3) using familiarization, (4) a supportive and engaged researcher, and (5) individualized approaches. Based on our findings, we report preliminary and generalizable best-practice recommendations to support autistic children in a research setting and promote positive experiences.</p>","PeriodicalId":36716,"journal":{"name":"Autism and Developmental Language Impairments","volume":"10 ","pages":"23969415251332486"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12034964/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144002078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Facing phonological complexity as an autistic adult: An exploratory study.","authors":"Marta Manenti, Philippe Prévost, Emmanuelle Houy-Durand, Frédérique Bonnet-Brilhault, Sandrine Ferré","doi":"10.1177/23969415251322751","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23969415251322751","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>While it has been suggested that phonology is relatively spared in autism, some studies have shown that many autistic children and adolescents exhibit severe phonological impairment, of which syllabic complexity is a reliable index. However, although autism is a lifelong disorder, no such evidence exists for adults. The aim of the present study is to bridge this knowledge gap by investigating how autistic adults deal with phonological complexity.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Phonological abilities were assessed in 48 autistic adults aged 18 to 56 years and 50 controls matched on age and sex/gender. A linguistically motivated Nonword Repetition (NWR) task manipulating syllabic complexity, LITMUS-QU(Quasi Universal)-FR(ench)-NWR-Adults, was used to distinguish participants with and without a phonological impairment. In addition to the NWR task, additional tests were conducted to examine potential factors influencing phonological performance. These measures included morphosyntax, vocabulary, nonverbal IQ (NVIQ), short-term memory, working memory, and autism severity, providing a comprehensive understanding of variables affecting phonological abilities in autistic adults.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Global performance on NWR was significantly lower and spanned a wider range in the autism group than that in the control group. By looking at individual results across the structures and substructures included in NWR, which presented varying degrees of syllabic complexity, it was possible to uncover great variability among autistic individuals with a phonologicalimpairment. Phonological proficiency appeared to be related to morphosyntax rather than to lexical knowledge and nonverbal cognition, including memory. Moreover, phonological skills did not correlate with autism severity.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study represents a first step towards understanding how to characterize phonological skills in autistic adults. Our findings indicate that syllabic complexity prompts diverse behaviors among autistic individuals with impaired phonology. Further research is required to gain insight into the cause(s) underlying the detected difficulties.</p>","PeriodicalId":36716,"journal":{"name":"Autism and Developmental Language Impairments","volume":"10 ","pages":"23969415251322751"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11951434/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143754956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How do autistic people, professionals, and caregivers think about the origins and environments of autism.","authors":"Fabíola Hermes Chesani, Carina Nunes Bossardi, Juliana Vieira de Araujo Sandri, Pollyana Bortholazzi Gouvea, Kristien Hens","doi":"10.1177/23969415241308428","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23969415241308428","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding what people believe the causes of autism to be has implications for experiences of familial guilt and stigma. Using a qualitative approach, we investigated how Brazilian healthcare professionals, parents of young and adult autistic people and young and adult autistic people consider the origins of autism and the interaction between the biological and social environment concerning the challenges autistic people encounter. Eight health professionals who assist autistic people, five young autistic people, six family members of young autistic people, five autistic adults, and four parents of autistic adults participated in the research. After analysis, two major coding themes emerged from the interviews: (T1) Perceived origins of autism: genetic, environmental, or both, (T2) The impact of the structured family environment. Our respondents consider autism in Brazil strongly related to genetic origins and little to environmental and social origins. At the same time, the context of the structured social and family environment can influence challenges and opportunities for autistic people.</p>","PeriodicalId":36716,"journal":{"name":"Autism and Developmental Language Impairments","volume":"9 ","pages":"23969415241308428"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11683807/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142907820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Teachers' use of augmented input and responsive strategies in schools for students with intellectual disability: A multiple case study of a communication partner intervention.","authors":"Sofia Wallin, Gunilla Thunberg, Helena Hemmingsson, Jenny Wilder","doi":"10.1177/23969415241290419","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23969415241290419","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Teachers serve as critical communication partners for students with intellectual disability (ID) who face communication difficulties. However, teachers may lack sufficient training in using communication partner strategies and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in the classroom. This study aimed to explore teacher application of a communication partner intervention (AKKtiv ComPal) in schools for students with ID.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Video observations were conducted at four schools during a teacher-led group activity at pre- and postintervention, with follow-up 7 months later, focusing on communication partner strategies and AAC use applied as a universal approach in the classroom. Differences and similarities in intervention application and contextual factors that may influence teacher application were investigated using a multiple case study approach, in which the four teachers and their contexts served as the four examined cases.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>All cases increased the access to communication boards in the classroom and used more augmented input and responsive strategies following intervention. Follow-up measures revealed variability in augmented input and sustained or more use of responsive strategies. Despite increased strategy use, access to communication boards remained inconsistent, and augmented input was used with variability across observation minutes. Influencing factors to teacher application seemed to be classroom setups (such as having a table), previous AAC skills, student characteristics, and postintervention efforts such as repeating the intervention or participating in follow-up sessions.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study demonstrates that classroom teachers for students with ID can use augmented input and responsive strategies as a universal design approach in the classroom following the AKKtiv ComPal intervention. However, teachers may utilize the strategies somewhat differently, partly influenced by their contextual factors.</p><p><strong>Implications: </strong>The findings suggest that while teachers for students with ID can successfully use communication partner strategies in the classroom, their use of augmented input should be nurtured over time to ensure sustained use and possibly improve consistency. Additionally, adapting to the physical environment of the classroom is crucial to optimize the application of these strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":36716,"journal":{"name":"Autism and Developmental Language Impairments","volume":"9 ","pages":"23969415241290419"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11475093/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142476761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Early development score as a prognostic factor in nonverbal/minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder: A matched case-control study in Cyprus.","authors":"Margarita Kilili-Lesta, Konstantinos Giannakou, Louiza Voniati","doi":"10.1177/23969415241286403","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23969415241286403","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background and aims: &lt;/strong&gt;Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present with impairments in social interaction and stereotypic behaviors. About a third may exhibit delays in verbal expression beyond preschool age, potentially categorizing them as nonverbal/minimally verbal (NV/MV), a condition that can persist into adulthood and affect their quality of life. The risk and prognostic factors associated with this reduced verbal outcome remain uncertain. This study aims to identify such factors within children diagnosed with ASD in Cyprus.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;In this case-control study, 56 children aged 3-12 years, with an ASD diagnosis, participated. Among them, cases were 22 children classified as ASD-NV/MV, and controls were 34 children classified as verbal (ASD-V), matched by age group and gender. Retrospective information on familial, perinatal, and developmental risk and prognostic factors were collected to calculate the familial risk score (FRS), perinatal risk score (PRS), and developmental risk score (DRS). Early development information was collected for the Early Development Score (EDS) and Early Gesture Score (EGS), to measure the children's skill level as toddlers across milestones. A low EDS and/or low EGS reflected general developmental delays and decreased frequency of early gestures and were considered in the DRS. A parent report questionnaire was utilized to determine the current overall linguistic level and status of participants, distinguishing cases from controls.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Age group and gender-matched cases and controls were similar in socioeconomic status and demographic characteristics (&lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; &gt; .05). Among the various familial (e.g., sibling with ASD), perinatal (e.g., prematurity), and developmental (e.g., ASD regression) factors examined individually, as well as collectively as scores in a conditional logistic regression (CLR) model, only a high DRS (&lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; = .03), due to low EDS (&lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; = .04) was significantly associated with linguistic status. When considering all risk scores in a multivariate CLR model, children with a high DRS were more likely to belong to the cases than to the control group (&lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; = .02). In a subsequent model with low EDS and low EGS, only the low EDS was significantly associated with the case group. Results showed that children with ASD and a low EDS, reflecting general delays in early development, were 4.5 times more likely to belong to the cases group than those with a high EDS (&lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; = .02).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;Early developmental delays in developmental milestones across various domains like gesture, motor, play, linguistic, cognition, and joint attention, in toddlerhood, were associated with later decreased verbal outcomes. Children in the sample with such early delays (low EDS), had a higher likelihood of persistent language delays (ASD-NV/MV) even at late school age. Future studies are needed to duplicate findi","PeriodicalId":36716,"journal":{"name":"Autism and Developmental Language Impairments","volume":"9 ","pages":"23969415241286403"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11447817/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142373148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Normal but Different: Autistic Adolescents Who Score Within Normal Ranges on Standardized Language Tests Produce Frequent Linguistic Irregularities in Spontaneous Discourse.","authors":"Emily R Zane, Ruth B Grossman","doi":"10.1177/23969415241283378","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23969415241283378","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>A substantial minority of autistic individuals score within typical ranges on standard language tests, suggesting that autism does not necessarily affect language acquisition. This idea is reflected in current diagnostic criteria for autism, wherein language impairment is no longer included. However, some work has suggested that probing autistic speakers' language carefully may reveal subtle differences between autistic and nonautistic people's language that cannot be captured by standardized language testing. The current study aims to test this idea, by determining whether a group of autistic and nonautistic individuals who score similarly on a standardized test show differences in the number of unconventional and erroneous language features they produce in a spontaneous language sample.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Thirty-eight older children and adolescents (19 autistic; 19 nonautistic), between the ages of 10 and 18, were recruited. Both participant groups scored within normal ranges on standardized language and IQ tests. Participants engaged in a \"double interview\" with an experimenter, during which they were first asked questions by the experimenter about themselves, and then they switched roles, so that it was the participant's turn to ask the experimenter questions. Participants' language during the interview was transcribed and analyzed for linguistic irregularities, including both semantic anomalies and morphosyntactic errors.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Group membership accounted for significant variance in irregularity frequency; autistic participants produced more linguistic irregularities than nonautistic participants. Scores on a standardized language test did not improve model fit. Secondary analyses involving irregularity type (semantic vs. morphosyntactic) showed that group differences were primarily driven by relatively high numbers of semantic unconventionalities produced by the autistic group. While the autistic group made more morphosyntactic errors than the nonautistic group, differences in these numbers were only marginally significant.</p><p><strong>Conclusions and implications: </strong>These findings suggest that a commonly used standardized language test does not adequately predict the number and perhaps type of language irregularities produced by some older autistic children and adolescents during spontaneous discourse. Results also suggest that differences in language use, especially semantic differences, may characterize autistic language, even the language produced by people who score within normal ranges on standardized language tests. It is debatable whether differences reflect underlying language impairments and/or a linguistic style adopted/preferred by autistic speakers. In this paper, we discuss both possibilities and offer suggestions to future research for teasing these possibilities apart.</p>","PeriodicalId":36716,"journal":{"name":"Autism and Developmental Language Impairments","volume":"9 ","pages":"23969415241283378"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11447814/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142373049","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}