Autism Spectrum Disorder Language Research Articles

Exploring cross-linguistic differences in parental input and their associations with child expressive language in ASD: Bulgarian versus English comparison.

Parental input plays a central role in typical language acquisition and development. In autism spectrum disorder (ASD), characterized by social communicative and language difficulties, parental input presents an important avenue for investigation as a target for intervention. A rich body of literature has identified which aspects of grammatical complexity and lexical diversity are most associated with child language ability in both typical development and autism. Yet, the majority of these studies are conducted with English-speaking children, thus potentially overlooking nuances in parental input derived from cross-linguistic variation. To examine the differences in verbal parental input to Bulgarian- and English-speaking children with ASD. To examine whether aspects of verbal parental input found to be concurrent predictors of English-speaking children's expressive language ability are also predictors of the expressive language of Bulgarian-speaking children with ASD. We compared parental input to Bulgarian-speaking (N=37; 2;7-9;10 years) and English-speaking (N=37; 1;8-4;9 years) children with ASD matched on expressive language. Parent-child interactions were collected during free play with developmentally appropriate toys. These interactions were transcribed, and key measures of parental input were extracted. English-speaking parents produced more word tokens and word types than Bulgarian-speaking parents. However, Bulgarian parents produced more verbs in relation to nouns and used more statements and exclamations but asked fewer questions than English-speaking parents. In addition, child age and parents' use of questions were significant concurrent predictors of child expressive vocabulary. This is one of the first studies to conduct a cross-linguistic comparison of parental input in ASD. The differences found emphasize the need to further study parental input to Bulgarian children and adapt naturalistic parent-mediated interventions to the local language and its specific characteristics. What is already known on the subject A rich body of literature has identified the specific aspects of grammatical complexity, lexical diversity, and question-asking that are concurrently and longitudinally associated with the language ability of children with typical development and of children with ASD. Yet, the majority of these studies are conducted with English-speaking children. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge The present study finds that there are specific differences in verbal parental input to Bulgarian- and English-speaking children with autism in terms of lexical composition and question-asking. Bulgarian parents used more verbs than nouns, and the opposite pattern was found for English-speaking parents. In addition, Bulgarian parents asked fewer questions but used more statements and exclamations. Nevertheless, parental question use was significantly correlated with children's language ability across both groups, suggesting that question-asking should be further examined as a potential target for parent-mediated language interventions for Bulgarian children with autism. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Most language and social communication interventions for autism are designed and piloted with English-speaking children. These interventions are often simply translated and used in different countries, with different populations and in different contexts. However, considering that one of the defining characteristics of autism is language difficulty, more studies should examine (1) how these language difficulties manifest in languages other than English, and (2) what characterizes verbal parental input in these other contexts. Such research investigations should inform future language and social communication interventions. The present study emphasizes the cross-linguistic differences between Bulgarian- and English-speaking parents' verbal input to their children with autism.

Mental rotation and language in autism spectrum disorder.

Though visuospatial skills are often considered a relative strength in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), unexplained difficulties relative to neurotypical (NT) peers have also been observed. Dissociations between spatial cognition and language skills in ASD may explain these difficulties given that these systems are linked in NT individuals. The current study examined performance on a mental rotation task that systematically varied stimulus features and the degree to which performance was associated with language in ASD relative to NT peers. Participants were children and young adults with ASD and 25 pairwise age- and IQ-matched NT peers (p's>0.53). The mental rotation task involved four conditions: two-dimensional (2D) abstract figures, three-dimensional (3D) abstract figures, 2D common objects, and 3D common objects. Structural language was measured using the grammar subscale from the Test of Language Development: Intermediate adapted for Norwegian. Mixed-effects model results indicated that autistic individuals were less accurate and had slower reaction time across mental rotation task conditions than NT peers. Language was associated with mental rotation accuracy for both groups across conditions, but with reaction time only for the NT group. The current study demonstrated selective associations between language and performance on a classic spatial cognition task in autistic individuals. Namely, there was a dissociation between language and in-the-moment efficiency in the ASD group, and this dissociation may reflect a broader dissociation between visuospatial and language systems.

Figurative language processing in autism spectrum disorders: A review.

Impairments in the broader domain of pragmatics are considered to be a defining feature of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). A challenging aspect of pragmatic competence is the ability to process nonliteral language. Interestingly, previous studies in figurative language comprehension in ASD have demonstrated conflicting results regarding participants' performance. The main scientific debate focuses on the underlying skills which facilitate processing of nonliteral speech in ASD. Namely, Theory of Mind (ToM), language abilities and Executive functions (EFs) are regarded as factors affecting autistic individuals' performance. This review addresses figurative language comprehension in ASD in light of the above three interpretive accounts. We reviewed data from recent studies in this field concluding that autistic children indeed encounter systematic difficulties in the processing of non-literal language. Moreover, only ToM and verbal skills were found to correlate the most with figurative language comprehension in ASD. Notably, we found that differences related to research methodology and tasks' properties may have led to discrepancies between studies' results. Finally, we argue that future studies should encompass in their experimental design figurative comprehension tasks with minimal linguistic demands and also measures of ToM, verbal ability and EFs in order to shed more light in the independent contribution of those skills to the processing of nonliteral language in ASD.

Neurolinguistics: A scientometric review

This scientometric study aimed to map the knowledge domains of neurolinguistics, an interdisciplinary field of linguistics, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the development process and structural relationships of scientific knowledge in neuroscience. A total of 5,104 neurolinguistics documents published between 1913 and 2022 were analysed and visualized from three databases, Scopus, WOS, and Lens, using CiteSpace 5.8.R3 and VOSviewer 1.6.18. Knowledge production was mapped by country, university, journal, publisher, research field, and author, and examined using scientometric indicators, including co-citation networks, citation networks, sigma metrics, and clusters of topics. The identified clusters include discourse processing of flexible word order language language-ready brain, and language talent in cultural neurolinguistics; object knowledge of agrammatic aphasia; early experience of cerebral localization; language in autism spectrum disorder; and language evolution in relation to cognitive adequacy in language-ready brain. This study provides valuable insights into the field of neurolinguistics and offers a visual representation of the development process of scientific knowledge in neuroscience.

Mapping access to meaning in adolescents with autism: Atypical lateralization and spatiotemporal patterns as a function of language ability

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) vary in their language abilities, associated with atypical patterns of brain activity. However, few studies have examined the spatiotemporal profiles of lexico-semantic processing in ASD, particularly as a function of language heterogeneity. Thirty-nine high-functioning adolescents with ASD and 21 typically developing (TD) peers took part in a lexical decision task that combined semantic access with demands on cognitive control. Spatiotemporal characteristics of the processing stages were examined with a multimodal anatomically-constrained magnetoencephalography (aMEG) approach, which integrates MEG with structural MRI. Additional EEG data were acquired from a limited montage simultaneously with MEG. TD adolescents showed the canonical left-dominant activity in frontotemporal regions during both early (N250m) and late (N400m) stages of lexical access and semantic integration. In contrast, the ASD participants showed bilateral engagement of the frontotemporal language network, indicative of compensatory recruitment of the right hemisphere. The left temporal N400m was prominent in both groups, confirming preserved attempts to access meaning. In contrast, the left prefrontal N400m was reduced in ASD participants, consistent with impaired semantic/contextual integration and inhibitory control. To further investigate the impact of language proficiency, the ASD sample was stratified into high- and low-performing (H-ASD and L-ASD) subgroups based on their task accuracy. The H-ASD subgroup performed on par with the TD group and showed greater activity in the right prefrontal and bilateral temporal cortices relative to the L-ASD subgroup, suggesting compensatory engagement. The L-ASD subgroup additionally showed reduced and delayed left prefrontal N400m, consistent with more profound semantic and executive impairments in this subgroup. These distinct spatiotemporal activity profiles reveal the neural underpinnings of the ASD-specific access to meaning and provide insight into the phenotypic heterogeneity of language in ASD, which may be a result of different neurodevelopmental trajectories and adoption of compensatory strategies.

Expressive and Receptive Language in Russian Primary-School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

BackgroundAbnormal language development in both expressive and receptive domains occurs in most children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), although the language deficit is not a core symptom of ASD. However, previous studies disagree on the difference in the degree of impairment between expressive and receptive language in ASD. Existing research has concentrated on vocabulary and ‘global expressive and receptive language’, often using parental reports for language assessment. Moreover, most of these studies have focused on toddlers and preschoolers with ASD, whereas data from school-aged children with ASD are very limited. At the same time, the age of children might account for the inconsistencies across publications on expressive-receptive language difference in children with ASD. AimsThe goal of the study was to directly compare the expressive and receptive language abilities of Russian primary-school-aged children with ASD (7–11 years old) at the levels of vocabulary, morphosyntax, and discourse. Methods82 children with ASD participated in language testing. We used tests from the Russian Child Language Assessment Battery in order to assess vocabulary, morphosyntax, and discourse in expressive and receptive domains. ResultsOur results revealed different expressive and receptive patterns, depending on the linguistic level and tests complexity. Importantly, we showed that children’s non-verbal IQ partly accounted for the difference between production and comprehension abilities. ConclusionsThe expressive-better-than-receptive pattern in language has been considered by some authors as the unique hallmark of ASD. However, several studies, including our own, show that this is not a universal characteristic of ASD. We also revealed that expressive and receptive language patterns differed depending on the linguistic level, children’s non-verbal IQ, and assessment tools.

The time-locked neurodynamics of semantic processing in autism spectrum disorder: an EEG study.

Language processing is often an area of difficulty in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Semantic processing-the ability to add meaning to astimulus-is thought to be especially affected in ASD. However, the neurological origin of these deficits, both structurally and temporally, have yet to be discovered. To further previous behavioral findings on language differences in ASD, the present study used an implicit semantic priming paradigm and electroencephalography (EEG) to compare the level of theta coherence throughout semantic processing, between typically developing (TD) and ASD participants. Theta coherence is an indication of synchronous EEG oscillations and was of particular interest due to its previous links with semantic processing. Theta coherence was analyzed in response to semantically related or unrelated pairs of words and pictures across bilateral short, medium, and long electrode connections. We found significant results across a variety of conditions, but most notably, we observed reduced coherence for language stimuli in the ASD group at a left fronto-parietal connection from 100 to 300ms. This replicates previous findings of underconnectivity in left fronto-parietal language networks in ASD. Critically, the early time window of this underconnectivity, from 100 to 300ms, suggests that impaired semantic processing of language in ASD may arise during pre-semantic processing, during the initial communication between lower-level linguistic processing and higher-level semantic processing. Our results suggest that language processing functions are unique in ASD compared to TD, and that subjects with ASD might rely on a temporally different language processing loop altogether.

Identifying Childhood Expressive Language Features That Best Predict Adult Language and Communication Outcome in Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Purpose Several studies have reported that "useful speech" at 5 years of age predicts outcomes in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but this skill has been vaguely defined. This study investigates which specific aspects of expressive language in children with ASD best predict adult language and communication outcomes. Method Language samples from 29 children (ages 47-72 months) enrolled in a longitudinal project (e.g., Lord et al., 2006) were transcribed and coded for spoken language features. Hierarchical linear regression was used to compare the following childhood variables as predictors of adult language and communication outcomes: noun diversity, verb diversity, mean length of utterance, and proportion of utterances that were socially motivated. Results Childhood verb diversity was a value-added predictor of all four adult outcome measures (i.e., verbal IQ, Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule Communication + Social Interaction Algorithm totals, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test scores, and Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales Communication Domain scores), while noun diversity and proportion of utterances that were socially motivated were not value-added predictors of any adult outcome measures. In a second set of regression analyses, mean length of utterance was substituted for verb diversity and was a value-added predictor of two out of four adult outcome measures (i.e., verbal IQ and Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales Communication Domain scores). The pattern of findings for the other predictors remained the same as in the previous analyses. Conclusion These results have implications for our understanding of early language in ASD and for clinical decision making in early childhood.

Brain and Language Associations in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Scoping Review.

Examining brain and behaviour associations for language in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may bring us closer to identifying neural profiles that are unique to a subgroup of individuals with ASD identified as language impaired (e.g. ASD LI+). We conducted a scoping review to examine brain regions that are associated with language performance in ASD. Further, we examined methodological differences across studies in how language ability was characterized and what neuroimaging methods were used to explore brain regions. Seventeen studies met inclusion criteria. Brain regions specific to ASD LI+ groups were found, however inconsistencies in brain and language associations were evident across study findings. Participant age, age-appropriate language scores, and neuroimaging methods likely contributed to differences in associations found.

Spontaneous Expressive Language Profiles in a Clinically Ascertained Sample of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have varying degrees of language impairment across multiple domains, which may include deficits in syntactic, pragmatic, and/or semantic skills. The heterogeneity of language profiles within ASD, coupled with the limited scope of existing standardized language measures, makes a comprehensive assessment of language impairments in ASD challenging. The Observation of Spontaneous Expressive Language (OSEL) is a new measure developed to capture children's spontaneous use of language in a naturalistic setting. The current study used the OSEL to examine the patterns of spontaneous expressive language abilities of 87 clinically ascertained children with ASD from 2 to 12 years. As expected, children with ASD were significantly more impaired in their spontaneous use of language compared to typically developing peers. Syntax and narrative skills continued to increase with age from toddler to elementary school years in cross-sectional comparisons. Pragmatic skills improved form toddler to preschool years but remained stable from preschool to elementary school years. Preliminary data also demonstrated significant improvements in OSEL syntax scores over time for a subset of children followed longitudinally (n = 8). Children with ASD consistently showed more impairments in spontaneous expressive language captured on the OSEL compared to language skills measured by other more structured standardized assessments, despite moderate convergent validity among those measures. Results suggest that impairments in the spontaneous and functional use of expressive language persist into middle childhood for many children with ASD, and a comprehensive assessment approach can lead to more precisely targeted treatment addressing specific language profiles. LAY SUMMARY: This study aimed to examine the variable language profiles in children with ASD. Children with ASD were shown to have impairments in the structure, meaning, and social use of language. These challenges were captured best by a measure that was created to assess the spontaneous use of language in a naturalistic environment. The results of this study emphasize the importance of a comprehensive assessment of language in ASD to inform treatment. Autism Res 2021, 14: 720-732. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Interfaces entre fonoaudiologia e musicoterapia na interação social e linguagem no Transtorno do Espectro do Autismo

In the Clinical Speech Therapy context, music is conjugated as a therapeutic strategy allied with conventional practices. Music can improve aspects related to language and communica-tion, executive and cognitive functions, social, psychological, and emotional behaviors. Mu-sic Therapy is defined as a science that uses music as the primary therapeutic tool, a mediator of non-musical responses, including sensory, emotional, cognitive, and communicational re-sponses. This study aims to conduct an integrative review of the national and international literature based on articles on the possible interfaces between Speech Therapy and Music Therapy concerning social interaction and language in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We question whether these interfaces will be identified, considering mainly these two aspects. The results of this study indicate few studies in Brazil on this topic focusing on children whose native language is Brazilian Portuguese. However, the research papers recorded in the international literature are in more significant number and shows that the intervention using music in Speech Therapy and Music Therapy can bring considerable benefits in the area of language and social interaction in ASD.

Social language in autism spectrum disorder: A computational analysis of sentiment and linguistic abstraction.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate impairments with pragmatic (social) language, including narrative skills and conversational abilities. We aimed to quantitatively characterize narrative performance in ASD using natural language processing techniques: sentiment and language abstraction analyses based on the Linguistic Category Model. Individuals with ASD and with typical development matched for age, gender, ethnicity, and verbal and nonverbal intelligence quotients produced language samples during two standardized tasks from the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition assessment: Telling a Story from a Book and Description of a Picture. Only the narratives produced during the Book Task differed between ASD and control groups in terms of emotional polarity and language abstraction. Participants with typical development used words with positive sentiment more often in comparison to individuals with ASD. In the case of words with negative sentiment, the differences were marginally significant (participants with typical development used words with negative sentiment more often). The Book Task narratives of individuals with ASD were also characterized by a lower level of language abstraction than narratives of peers with typical development. Linguistic abstraction was strongly positively correlated with a higher number of words with emotional polarity. Neither linguistic abstraction nor emotional polarity correlated with participants’ age or verbal and nonverbal IQ. The results support the promise of sentiment and language abstraction analyses as a useful tool for the quantitative, fully automated assessment of narrative abilities among individuals with ASD.

Gesture and Language Trajectories in Early Development: An Overview From the Autism Spectrum Disorder Perspective.

The well-documented gesture-language relation in typical communicative development (TD) remains understudied in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Research on early communication skills shows that gesture production is a strong predictor of language in TD, but little is known about the association between gestures and language in ASD. This review focuses on exploring this relation by addressing two topics: the reliability of gestures as predictor of language competences in ASD and the types of potential differences (quantitative, qualitative, or both) in the gesture-language trajectory in children on the autism spectrum compared to typically developing children. We find evidence that gesture production is indeed a reliable predictor of early communicative skills and that both quantitative and qualitative differences have been established in research in the development of verbal and non-verbal communication skills in ASD, with lower gesture rates at the quantitative level, and a trajectory that starts deviating from the TD trajectory only at some point after the first year of life.

Linguistic markers of autism in girls: evidence of a \u201cblended phenotype\u201d during storytelling

BackgroundNarrative abilities are linked to social impairment in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), such that reductions in words about cognitive processes (e.g., think, know) are thought to reflect underlying deficits in social cognition, including Theory of Mind. However, research suggests that typically developing (TD) boys and girls tell narratives in sex-specific ways, including differential reliance on cognitive process words. Given that most studies of narration in ASD have been conducted in predominantly male samples, it is possible that prior results showing reduced cognitive processing language in ASD may not generalize to autistic girls. To answer this question, we measured the relative frequency of two kinds of words in stories told by autistic girls and boys: nouns (words that indicate object-oriented storytelling) and cognitive process words (words like think and know that indicate mentalizing or attention to other peoples’ internal states).MethodsOne hundred two verbally fluent school-aged children [girls with ASD (N = 21) and TD (N = 19), and boys with ASD (N = 41) and TD (N = 21)] were matched on age, IQ, and maternal education. Children told a story from a sequence of pictures, and word frequencies (nouns, cognitive process words) were compared.ResultsAutistic children of both sexes consistently produced a greater number of nouns than TD controls, indicating object-focused storytelling. There were no sex differences in cognitive process word use in the TD group, but autistic girls produced significantly more cognitive process words than autistic boys, despite comparable autism symptom severity. Thus, autistic girls showed a unique narrative profile that overlapped with autistic boys and typical girls/boys. Noun use correlated significantly with parent reports of social symptom severity in all groups, but cognitive process word use correlated with social ability in boys only.ConclusionThis study extends prior research on autistic children’s storytelling by measuring sex differences in the narratives of a relatively large, well-matched sample of children with and without ASD. Importantly, prior research showing that autistic children use fewer cognitive process words is true for boys only, while object-focused language is a sex-neutral linguistic marker of ASD. These findings suggest that sex-sensitive screening and diagnostic methods—preferably using objective metrics like natural language processing—may be helpful for identifying autistic girls, and could guide the development of future personalized treatment strategies.

Irony comprehension and mentalizing ability in children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder

BackgroundDespite evidence suggesting that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may have difficulties in comprehension of figurative language, and irony in particular, previous studies examining this ability among individuals with (ASD) have reported inconsistent findings, resulting in different suggested etiologies of this difficulty. In view of the inconclusive findings, the current study assesses the contribution of various factors to irony comprehension, with specific focus on the association between mentalizing ability and irony comprehension. MethodIrony comprehension was examined in 20 individuals with ASD (age range 10–15) as compared to 20 typically developing (TD) peers (age range 10–15) through a task of reading ten ironic comics. Participants were matched by age, gender, vocabulary, executive function abilities, and their results on a second-order false-belief task. Their mentalizing abilities were examined by the Hinting Test for the ability to understand intentions. ResultsA significant difference in irony comprehension was observed between the groups. Re-adjusting the group matching according to the Hinting Test scores eliminated the group difference in irony comprehension. Multilevel regression with logit link analysis showed that hinting and mental flexibility contributed to irony comprehension. ConclusionsThe study's findings demonstrated that individuals with ASD showed adequate ability to comprehend irony but nonetheless were outperformed by TD peers (matched on age, language, ToM, and executive functioning abilities). A comparison of the two groups by their mentalizing abilities (through understanding intentions) revealed similar comprehension abilities. These findings highlight the importance of using several tools that each focus on different aspects of mentalizing when assessing this skill in studies of figurative language in ASD.

Shank3B mutant mice display pitch discrimination enhancements and learning deficits

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a core set of atypical behaviors in social-communicative and repetitive-motor domains. Individual profiles are widely heterogeneous and include language skills ranging from nonverbal to hyperlexic. The causal mechanisms underlying ASD remain poorly understood but appear to include a complex combination of polygenic and environmental risk factors. SHANK3 (SH3 and multiple ankyrin repeat domains 3) is one of a subset of well-replicated ASD-risk genes (i.e., genes demonstrating ASD associations in multiple studies), with haploinsufficiency of SHANK3 following deletion or de novo mutation seen in about 1% of non-syndromic ASD. SHANK3 is a synaptic scaffolding protein enriched in the postsynaptic density of excitatory synapses. In order to more closely evaluate the contribution of SHANK3 to neurodevelopmental expression of ASD, a knockout mouse model with a mutation in the PDZ domain was developed. Initial research showed compulsive/repetitive behaviors and impaired social interactions in these mice, replicating two core ASD features. The current study was designed to further examine Shank3B heterozygous and homozygous knockout mice for behaviors that might map onto atypical language in ASD (e.g., auditory processing, and learning/memory). We report findings of repetitive and atypical aggressive social behaviors (replicating prior reports), novel evidence that Shank3B KO mice have atypical auditory processing (low-level enhancements that might have a direct relationship with heightened pitch discrimination seen in ASD), as well as robust learning impairments.

Commentary: Measuring Language Change Through Natural Language Samples.

The role of language in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), more specifically, its function in social communication and strong predictive power on future outcomes, warrants language assessments that have good psychometric properties that capture the heterogeneity of language ability found among diagnosed individuals. Given the rapid growth in intervention and treatment research, there is an urgent need for the development and implementation of outcome measures that are easily obtained and sensitive to change. In this commentary, we argue for the use of natural language samples as measures of expressive language and communication for this purpose and review the literature on their implementation in ASD research. Conceptual and measurement issues are discussed and future developments are outlined.

Memory, learning and language in autism spectrum disorder

Background and aimsThe ‘dual-systems’ model of language acquisition has been used by Ullman et al. to explain patterns of strength and weakness in the language of higher-functioning people with autism spectrum disorder. Specifically, intact declarative/explicit learning is argued to compensate for a deficit in non-declarative/implicit procedural learning, constituting an example of the so-called see-saw effect. Ullman and Pullman extended their argument concerning a see-saw effect on language in autism spectrum disorder to cover other perceived anomalies of behaviour, including impaired acquisition of social skills. The aim of this paper is to present a critique of Ullman et al.’s claims and to propose an alternative model of links between memory systems and language in autism spectrum disorder.Main contributionWe argue that a four-system model of learning, in which intact semantic and procedural memory are used to compensate for weaknesses in episodic memory and perceptual learning, can better explain patterns of language ability across the autistic spectrum. We also argue that attempts to generalise the ‘impaired implicit learning/spared declarative learning’ theory to other behaviours in autism spectrum disorder are unsustainable.ConclusionsClinically significant language impairments in autism spectrum disorder are under-researched, despite their impact on everyday functioning and quality of life. The relative paucity of research findings in this area lays it open to speculative interpretation which may be misleading.ImplicationsMore research is needed into links between memory/learning systems and language impairments across the spectrum. Improved understanding should inform therapeutic intervention and contribute to investigation of the causes of language impairment in autism spectrum disorder with potential implications for prevention.

Oral-Motor and Lexical Diversity During Naturalistic Conversations in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by impaired social communication and the presence of restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviors and interests. Prior research suggests that restricted patterns of behavior in ASD may be cross-domain phenomena that are evident in a variety of modalities. Computational studies of language in ASD provide support for the existence of an underlying dimension of restriction that emerges during a conversation. Similar evidence exists for restricted patterns of facial movement. Using tools from computational linguistics, computer vision, and information theory, this study tests whether cognitive-motor restriction can be detected across multiple behavioral domains in adults with ASD during a naturalistic conversation. Our methods identify restricted behavioral patterns, as measured by entropy in word use and mouth movement. Results suggest that adults with ASD produce significantly less diverse mouth movements and words than neurotypical adults, with an increased reliance on repeated patterns in both domains. The diversity values of the two domains are not significantly correlated, suggesting that they provide complementary information.

The Influence of Maternal Pragmatics on the Language Skills of Children with Autism.

This study examined the relationship between mothers' pragmatics and child language in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and non-ASD language delay (LD) mother-child dyads. Participants consisted of 20 dyads of mothers and their toddlers aged 24 to 48 months, with ASD (n = 10) or non-ASD LD (n = 10). Groups were matched on child chronological age, language, and cognition. Maternal pragmatic language was qualified based on the degree of pragmatic violations during a semistructured interview, and was examined in relation to both child language, as measured by the Preschool Language Scale-4 and maternal use of language facilitation strategies during play. Lower rates of maternal pragmatic violations were associated with higher expressive language scores in children with ASD, and with higher receptive language scores for children with non-ASD LD. Within ASD dyads, maternal pragmatic violations were negatively related to mothers' use of linguistic expansions. These findings indicate that parental pragmatics likely contribute to early language learning, and that the effects of maternal pragmatics on early language in ASD may be indirect (e.g., through parents' use of facilitative strategies). Parent-mediated language interventions for ASD should therefore consider parent pragmatics, especially given that pragmatic differences have been identified in unaffected family members of individuals with ASD.