Autism and Developmental Language Impairments最新文献

{"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}

{"title":"\"I need them for my autism, but I don't know why\": Exploring the friendship experiences of autistic children in UK primary schools.","authors":"Laura Fox, Kathryn Asbury","doi":"10.1177/23969415241275934","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23969415241275934","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Autistic children can experience challenges in making and maintaining friendships, and middle childhood (ages 6-12) may be particularly challenging as social networks become more complex. However, a large proportion of research into these experiences is based on adult reports or focuses on the experiences of adolescents, meaning that the voices of younger children are absent. Due to the exclusion of younger children from research, we have a limited understanding of their first-hand experiences of their friendships and the support they receive, which has implications for friendship support and wellbeing. This study aimed to amplify the voices of younger autistic children to explore their first-hand experiences of friendships and highlight areas of social support which may be most beneficial to primary-aged autistic children.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study used novel creative methods to support interviews with 19 autistic primary school-aged children to explore their experiences of friendship. Parent-led interviews and scrapbooks supported the children in discussing the challenges and strengths of their friendships.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Children discussed the challenges and strengths of their friendships including the impact of social norms on the need to have friends and their support needs in this area of life. Children also discussed gaps in their current friendships and how they would like to see these filled. It was clear that not all children required or wanted neurotypical-style friendships, with many valuing companionship and gameplay over intimacy. Analysis highlighted the heterogeneity of autistic children's friendships, especially in relation to gender and age, calling for more tailored and individualized support.</p><p><strong>Conclusion and implications: </strong>Results from the current study show that autistic children can and do have successful friendships but that these friendships may differ from those of their non-autistic peers. The study further adds to the existing literature by showing that younger autistic children can be included in research by using differentiated, accessible and creative methods, and that they are able to voice their opinions on matters surrounding support. It also calls for a tailored approach to supporting autistic children in school and speaking with children to give them autonomy over the support they want to receive.</p>","PeriodicalId":36716,"journal":{"name":"Autism and Developmental Language Impairments","volume":"9 ","pages":"23969415241275934"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11378229/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142156241","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":"Word learning by children with developmental language disorder: Identifying gaps in our understanding of spaced retrieval effects.","authors":"Laurence B Leonard, Patricia Deevy, Justin B Kueser","doi":"10.1177/23969415241275940","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23969415241275940","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Current evidence shows that children with developmental language disorder (DLD) benefit from spaced retrieval during word learning activities. Word recall is quite good relative to recall with alternative word learning procedures. However, recall on an absolute basis can be improved further; many studies report that fewer than two-thirds of the words are learned, even with the assistance of spaced retrieval during the learning activities. In this article we identify details of spaced retrieval that are less well understood in an effort to promote more effective learning through retrieval practice.</p><p><strong>Main contribution: </strong>We discuss the importance of factors such as: (a) integrating immediate retrieval with spaced retrieval trials; (b) determining whether gradual increases in spacing have more than short-term benefits relative to equal spacing; (c) discovering the number of successful retrievals sufficient to ensure later recall; (d) using spaced retrieval to avoid erosion of phonetic details on later recall tests; and (e) whether the well-documented difficulties with learning word forms might be tied to a particular subgroup of children with DLD. We also speculate on some of the possible reasons why spaced retrieval is beneficial in the first place.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Although many children with DLD make gains in word learning through procedures that incorporate spaced retrieval, there are numerous details involved in the process that can alter its success. Until we have a better understanding of the boundaries of spaced retrieval's effectiveness, we will not be taking full advantage of this promising addition to word learning procedures.</p><p><strong>Implications: </strong>Spaced retrieval activities can be an important addition to the resources that clinicians and educators have available to assist children in their word learning. With a deeper understanding of the issues discussed here, we should be able to put spaced retrieval to even greater use.</p>","PeriodicalId":36716,"journal":{"name":"Autism and Developmental Language Impairments","volume":"9 ","pages":"23969415241275940"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11365034/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142113016","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 children with language disorder perceive their peer interactions? A qualitative investigation.","authors":"Hannah Cullen, Sarah Billingham, Michelle C St Clair","doi":"10.1177/23969415241275775","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23969415241275775","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Peer interaction difficulties are often elevated amongst children with language disorders, yet the mechanisms underlying these difficulties are unclear. Previous research indicates that poor conflict management, social withdrawal, emotion regulation difficulties, and reduced prosocial behavior may contribute to peer interaction difficulties. However, this research often uses adult perspectives, failing to acknowledge child perceptions of these experiences. The present study aimed to qualitatively investigate perceptions of peer interactions from the perspective of children with language disorders.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Seven participants aged between 7- and 10-years-old took part. All participants were diagnosed with a language disorder and had language as their primary area of difficulty. Participants were recruited from a specialist language school and via an online database. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, with participants given the choice to answer questions verbally or creatively, using toys or drawing materials. Interview transcripts were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Participants valued play, conversation, and helping others. They felt that spending time with peers could alleviate loneliness. However, sometimes solitude was needed as social interaction could be overwhelming. Participants found conflict challenging and exhibited difficulties with regulating emotions. Participants relied on running away, retaliation, or asking an adult for help, to resolve conflict.</p><p><strong>Conclusions and implications: </strong>The findings suggest that children with language disorders are socially motivated and have relative strengths in displaying prosocial behavior. However, children with language disorders require support to promote positive relationships. This support includes help with making deeper connections with peers, opportunities to spend time alone when needed, and providing adept conflict resolution and emotion regulation strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":36716,"journal":{"name":"Autism and Developmental Language Impairments","volume":"9 ","pages":"23969415241275775"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11365031/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142113014","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":"Is language impaired in Spanish-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder level 1?","authors":"Alberto Sánchez Pedroche, Mario Valera-Pozo, Angelica Mateus Moreno, Maria Fernanda Lara Díaz, Eva Aguilar-Mediavilla, Daniel Adrover-Roig","doi":"10.1177/23969415241275931","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23969415241275931","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The current diagnostic criteria for the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) include the possibility to specify concomitant language difficulties.</p><p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Our main aim was to explore whether children with ASD-Level 1 (ASD-L1) present difficulties in the acquisition of structural language, as little work has been done in this regard so far. As a secondary aim we evaluated the degree to which the potential language impairment in ASD is directly associated with their social communication deficits or it represents a distinct deficit.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>To further clarify the nature and characteristics of putative language difficulties in ASD-L1, we evaluated language skills in 89 children and preadolescents diagnosed with ASD-L1, and a group of typically developing participants (TD). All of them were between 8 and 13 years old and had similar socioeconomic backgrounds.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Children with ASD-L1 obtained lower scores than those in TD group in repeating sentences, in finding the semantic relationships between words, and in applying word structure rules (morphology). Congruently, the core language standard score was lower in the ASD-L1 group, and the proportion of language delay was significantly higher in the ASD-L1 group than in the control group.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Language scores were associated with autistic traits; thus, language performance in ASD-L1 is closely related to autistic symptoms. These results are discussed according to the literature on linguistic deficits in ASD-L1 and their relations with phonological working memory.</p>","PeriodicalId":36716,"journal":{"name":"Autism and Developmental Language Impairments","volume":"9 ","pages":"23969415241275931"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11363034/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142113015","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 word meaning structure relates to executive functioning and theory of mind in children with developmental language disorder: A multiple case study.","authors":"Thomas F Camminga, Daan Hermans, Eliane Segers, Constance T W M Vissers","doi":"10.1177/23969415241268245","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23969415241268245","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Many children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have difficulties in executive functioning (EF) and theory of mind (ToM). These difficulties might be explained by the theory that children's conceptual understanding changes over five stages of word meaning structure, from concrete and context-dependent to abstract and precise. We present a multiple case study examining how word meaning structure relates to EF and ToM in children with DLD.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Participants were five children with DLD aged 9-12 and five typically developing children matched for age, gender, and nonverbal intelligence. Word meaning structure was assessed using new dynamic test. EF was assessed using the Zoo Map Task and Behavioral Rating Inventory for EF. ToM was assessed using the ToM test, Frith-Happé Animations, and Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire. Behavioral problems were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist. Anamnestic interviews with the parents were conducted to describe the case histories.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>For the children with DLD, lower scores in the word meaning structure task were observed compared to those observed for their matched peers, with no statistical test applied. Word meaning structure related positively to EF and ToM, but not to behavioral problems. Instances in which word meaning structure dissociates from EF and ToM are discussed in individual case descriptions.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>By linking language to conceptual development, variations in word meaning structure may explain some EF and ToM difficulties in children with DLD.</p><p><strong>Implications: </strong>The present study offers a basis for future research on the relationships among word meaning structure, EF, and ToM.</p>","PeriodicalId":36716,"journal":{"name":"Autism and Developmental Language Impairments","volume":"9 ","pages":"23969415241268245"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11337180/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142019044","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}