Abstract
This chapter explains the ways in which language, though not a diagnostic feature of autism, is nonetheless central to it. The chapter provides an overview of the language challenges in autism, including speech, vocabulary, grammar and syntax, pragmatics, language comprehension, and narrative skills. It discusses how these challenges range in severity across the autism spectrum, from individuals who are non-speaking to those who are fully fluent but still struggle with social communication. It also discusses some of the uncertainties surrounding non-speaking autism. It then surveys the various ways in which language affects social development, cognitive development, academic development, behavior, and psychological well-being.
TopIntroduction
To motivate an entire book on language and literacy tools for students on the autism spectrum, it is useful to begin with an examination of why language and literacy are such important issues in autism. After all, autism is considered primarily a socio-cognitive disorder, not a language disorder, and in fact a significant proportion of individuals on the spectrum appear to develop language skills that on many measures are age-appropriate. A closer look at autism, however, shows that some language difficulties are universal across the spectrum; that some language difficulties are significant; and that language difficulties have broad implications for overall prognosis, including social development and scholastic and vocational success.
This chapter begins with an overview of the language issues in autism, focusing on the areas of vocabulary, grammar, pragmatics, language comprehension, and narrative skills. It then surveys the various ways in which language affects social development, cognitive development, academic development, behavior, and psychological well-being.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Syntax: The subset of grammar that includes word order and the embedding of phrase and clauses within sentences.
Grammar: A language’s rules for word order and word endings, including singular and plural, verb tense, function words, embedded clauses, and question syntax.
Non-Speaking: Unable to articulate words, perhaps because of Apraxia of Speech or other oral-motor difficulties, or perhaps because of lack of access to speech sounds (e.g., because of hearing loss). Non-speaking individuals may be able to use alternative linguistic media like sign language or written language. In autism, however, non-speaking often means non-verbal.
Apraxia of Speech: An oral-motor disorder that interferes with the ability to plan and execute speech sounds.
Expressive Language: Actively produced language, whether by speaking, typing, handwriting, or signing (cf. receptive language).
Mental Representation: A linguistically expressed thought that represents an aspect of the world—e.g., a situation, an event, or what someone else may be thinking (a mental representation of a mental representation).
Nonverbal: Unable to produce language in any linguistic medium: speech, sign language, or written language. Approximately 20% of autistic individuals are thought to be nonverbal.
Pragmatics: Communicative uses of language and the interpretation of language in communicative context. Pragmatics includes conversational interactions, implied meanings, figurative language, and reading between the lines.
Echolalia: The immediate or delayed parroting back of words and phrases, typically with the intonation in which they were originally heard, including words and phrases that one does not fully understand.
Receptive Language: Comprehension of language produced by others, whether spoken, written, or signed. Receptive language tends to exceed spoken language, but is an area of disproportionate weakness in autism.