Compréhension du langage figuré par les enfants et adolescents avec un trouble du spectre de l’autisme : étude longitudinale des processus inférentiels

Abstract

This research investigates the developmental trajectories of non-literal language comprehension by children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. This 12-month longitudinal study focuses on three main forms of non-literal language requiring increasingly expensive inferential processing: indirect requests, idioms and irony. The performance of 12 children and adolescents with ASD without intellectual developmental disorders is compared to their age-, gender- and language-matched controls. Rather than a stable global deficit, the results point to a partial and progressive alteration of inferential abilities in participants with ASD. This study opens up clinical perspectives on the assessment of non-literal language comprehension by individuals with ASD.