Abstract
Individuals on the higher-functioning end of the autism spectrum have significant impairments in communication. Language delay can occur, particularly in syntactic or structural linguistic knowledge. However, classically observed semantic deficits generally overshadow these structural deficits. This research examined the potential effects on comprehension of dative expressions that exhibited syntactic alternation versus those that were restricted, whether in syntactic construction or through marked semantic differences in construction. Children with autism and matched neurotypical control participants were presented with a sentence battery of dative statements representing these variations in construction and were asked to display basic comprehension of the sentence meaning by identifying the recipient, or indirect object, of the dative verb. Construction, restriction, and semantic differentiation variables were analyzed for potential effects on the rate of accurate comprehension. Both groups performed with greater accuracy when dative expressions used a prepositional phrase than when the dative action was expressed in the syntax. The autism group performed more poorly when the dative expression could syntactically alternate than when it was restricted. These effects improve our knowledge of how children with autism understand alternating grammatical constructions. Autism Res 2014, 7: 314–321. © 2013 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Highlights
Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show significant impairments in social knowledge, difficulties in pragmatic communication, and social deficits in behavior and activities [Fine, Bartolucci, Ginsberg, & Szatmari, 1991], overshadowing language delay in syntactic or structural linguistic knowledge [Baron-Cohen, 1999; Geurts & Embrechts, 2008]
Some research has suggested that mastery of phonology and syntax appears to follow the same course of development as it does in neurotypical children, albeit accomplished at a slower rate in a proportion of individuals [Tager-Flusberg, 1981]
Autistic children with this deficit cannot generalize as liberally as do typically developing children [in abstract reasoning, Minshew, Meyer, & Goldstein, 2002; in word learning, Tek, Jaffery, Fein, & Naigles, 2008]. This leads one to predict that children with ASD will have a relatively impaired ability to process alternating grammatical constructions compared with neurotypical children, who appear to benefit from some degree of generalization across syntactic forms
Summary
Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show significant impairments in social knowledge, difficulties in pragmatic communication, and social deficits in behavior and activities [Fine, Bartolucci, Ginsberg, & Szatmari, 1991], overshadowing language delay in syntactic or structural linguistic knowledge [Baron-Cohen, 1999; Geurts & Embrechts, 2008]. The distinction between alternating and restricted verbs within the dative case provides a context within which to consider the potential of the previously discussed accounts of impairment in children with ASD as they relate to patterns observed in comprehension of syntax.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call