Language Disorders:from Infancy through Adolescence:

Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, and Communicating

Rhea Paul, PhD, CCC-SLPProfessor, Yale Child Study Center

New Haven, Connecticut

Courtenay F. Norbury, PhD

Senior Research Fellow Department of Psychology Royal Holloway University of London London,England

pages 328-347

children with ASD

70%-80% of preschoolers with ASD today use speech as their primary means of communica-tion.

speakers with ASD can do well in the structured context of a test,but have greater difficulty using their language to engage in social interaction.

responsiveness(children with ASD do not respond as consistently to hearing their name called,and may show minimal understanding of the conversational responsibility to respond when spoken to.)

echolalia(this includes immediate or delayed imitation of what is heard,or the repetition of  strings of memorized language from songs,videos,or other"scripted" sources.)

pronoun use(children with ASD often use the pronoun "you " in place of "me" when referring to themselves.this is thought to reflect their tendency to echo what they hear others say, for example,when a caregiver asks a child,"are you hungry?"the child with ASD may respond with the phrase,"you hungry,")

vocabulary and syntax(children with ASD sometimes attach unusual or peculiar meanings to words for phrases,but syntax is generally a relative strength,therefore,syntactic level,often determined by MLU,can be a baseline measure against which other areas of language skill may be measured.)

communicative functions(requesting我可以要那個嗎,protesting不要醬紫,directing others你去那邊,commenting那是一輛藍色的小汽車,social interaction嘿，我們一起玩吧, self-directing我要把球藏起來,reporting on past and ongoing events我們在盪鞦韆, reasoning小鳥飛走了因為我們忘記把籠子關上, predicting如果我滿身都是泥巴，媽媽會被氣瘋的, empathizing她哭了因為她跌倒了,imagining我是媽媽，我會把孩子放床上,negotiating如果你把你的小貨車給我，我就把我的球給你)

discourse management(waits turn to speak,responds to speech w/speech consistently, responds to speech w/relavent remark,maintains other's topic for at least two turns,shifts topics appropriately,monitors interlocutor with gaze appropriately(looks at other when talking,looks at referents,then then back at interlocutor)

register variation(talks appropriately to unfamiliar adult clinician;demostrates at least one register shift e.g., in talk to baby doll or stuffed animal;use politeness conventions in request please;can increase politeness when told to "ask nicer";uses indirect requests spontaneously and appropriately)

presupposition(uses pronouns appropriately;uses ellipsis appropriately;uses stress appropri-ately;uses stress appropriately for emphasis and contrast;give enough background information;can provide additional information when request a what for conversational repair)

manner of communication(gives clear,relevant responses;talks appropriate amount;can relate sequence of actions clearly)