Characteristics:

1
Characteristics

• communication
• social
• behaviors/interests/sensory
• cognition
• social cognition

Core
2
Communication impairments areto the disorders
FUNDAMENTAL
3
Language develops DIFFERRENTLY for children with
an ASD

• in PDD-NOS language may begin without much delay
  but pragmatics and content soon will be
  noticeably odd
• in Aspergers language is not appreciably delayed
  or odd
• in Autism language is both delayed and unusual

4
Never assumeeven in the highest of the high
communicative competence!
5
There is ALWAYS a deficit in pragmatics or the
social use of language!
6
Communication impairments

• many flavours
• expressive (verbal and nonverbal)
• receptive (verbal and nonverbal)
• masquerade as problem behaviors

7
Aspergers/HFAs

• many think of normal language
• nothing could be further from the truth!
• Maybe good syntax, semantics, but comprehension
  and expression of pragmatic skills are wanting

8
Children with Autism walk before they talk
and children with Aspergers talk before they
walk
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Comprehension precedes meaningful expression
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Oftentimes children with ASDs begin speaking by
being echolalic
11
Echolalia

• multifunctional
• buys time
• fills in a turn
• indicates comprehension difficulties
• chunk language, process as a whole, not analyzed
  therefore little rule induction

12
Those who remain nonverbal are thought also to
have more serious cognitive impairment, but
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Children with an ASD rarely understand or use
gestures
14
Consistent features of Autistic language are that
the language is

• Instrumental, rather than expressive
• Elicited, rather than spontaneous (responders,
  not initiators)
• Rare, (these children emit far fewer
  communication acts than typically developing
  children)

15
Instrumental language, like instrumental gestures
are used to get a need met

• Go car
• Want swing,

16
Instrumental language is not SOCIAL language
Sure is!
17
Expressive language in young or more challenged
children

• used primarily for meeting immediate needs
• typically not used for social purposes

18
Requesting versus CommentingI want
cookies Come see these cards
19
Expressive language in more mature/higher-functio
ning individuals

• difficulty with conversations
• (initiations, maintenance, terminating)
• difficulty with topic management
• (preoccupations)
• voice and prosody differences
• (pitch, loudness, tempo)

20
Difficulty with conversations

• turn-taking (no signal with eye contact)
• topic initiation and maintenance difficulties
• topics rely on understanding social norms

21
Difficulty with topic management

• topic of interest to themselves
• (perspective taking problems)
• topic may be their own circumscribed interest
• topic may have already been discussed with
  partner ad nauseum

22
Voice and prosody differences

• expressive involvement
• unusual intonation, volume, pitch, stress, rhythm
• receptive involvement
• prosodic cues are not utilized by persons with
  autism

23
Prosody

• I wouldnt say you are late (not me)
• I wouldnt say you are late (never)
• I wouldnt say you are late (just think it)
• I wouldnt say you are late (others are)
• I wouldnt say you are late (but close to it)
• I wouldnt say you are late (something else)

24
Idiosyncratic words and jargon

• the child acquires his own personal meaning for a
  word based on his own experience
• hot rain, hot cold, chicken for all food
• uncomfortabilities

25
Perseverative speech

• talking ad nauseum on a topic of their own
  interest
• may revolve around their circumscribed
  interest/obsession

26
Incessant questioning

• questioning serves many purposes, it maintains
  the interaction by obliging the partner to answer
• it guarantees a predictable response

27
Never assume comprehension simply because the
person used the word,remember echolalia!
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Receptive language is the least well understood
deficit in people with ASDs
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Receptive Language

• Typically. children understand far more than
  they can express

30
Receptive

• expressive often exceeds receptive ability (this
  is not a typo)!
• better with factual information than
  emotionally-based information
• problems answering questions
• difficulty following directions
• appear noncompliant

31
Receptive continued

• use words they dont understand
• difficulty with sarcasm, idioms and figurative
  speech
• difficulty with abstract concepts

32
Literal

• words are understood in their most literal
  meaning (can cause problems for the child with
  Autism-appear cheeky)
• words with multiple meanings are difficult for
  children with Autism as well

33
You will need to test receptive ability

• ask the child to do something out of context
• do not provide visual cues

34
Thinking in Pictures - Temple Grandin, 1995

• if you cant make a picture in your head the
  child with autism will have difficulty
  comprehending it

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Comprehension is fundamental to language
development

• Often parents/teachers etc. believe that
  comprehension is fine
• Performance failure is seen as noncompliance

36
Literacy Skills

• great decoders
• usually advanced in relation to comprehension
• hyperlexia
• (precocious decoding, impaired comprehension)
• observed most frequently in children who are
  echolalic
• may be able to read words and phrases yet not
  understand the independent vowels/consonants
• may read early (e.g., Wal-Mart, McDonalds)
• fascination with letters/print

37
Even HFAs/and those with AS demonstrate
comprehension difficulties