Pragmatic Language Dysfunction in Autism: “Competence” or “Performance”?

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Volden, Joanne^{a; *} | Holdgrafer, G.^b | Mulcahy, R.F.^a

Affiliations: [a] Department of Educational Psychology, University of Alberta | [b] Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, University of Alberta

Note: [*] This work was supported by Medical Research Council of Canada doctoral fellowships # ST – APOO13320; and # 9004STR – 1175-153134 held by the first author.

Abstract: The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether pragmatic language difficulties in referential communication could be ameliorated by application of a brief, but directive, prompt and subsequently whether improved performance would generalize to a similar situation employing novel stimuli. Ten high functioning autistic adolescents and young adults were matched for age, sex, and language skill to normally developing subjects, and presented with a barrier game referential communication task. Significantly improved performance occurred following administration of the prompt and was maintained in the generalization condition. Maintained improved performance was interpreted as indicative of a difficulty in initial spontaneous application of available skills (ie. a performance problem) rather than a specific developmental skill deficit (ie. a competence problem).

Keywords: Autism, Referential Communication, Conceptual Perspective Taking, Theory of Mind, Pragmatics, Clinical Management

DOI: 10.3233/ACS-1993-3104

Journal: Journal of Clinical Speech and Language Studies, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 36-53, 1993