Language Parameters:
- Language development is often delayed for an autistic child.
- For an autistic person who is verbal there are many distinct differences that may occur in the syntax, semantics and pragmatics of their receptive and expressive language skills. Differences can be noticeable and have significant impact on learning and social interaction.
- Expressive language skills may give the impression of greater sophistication in receptive language than is the case.
- A person may have a lowered depth of meaning for specific words (secondary meaning).
- A person may have a less expansive breath of vocabulary (verbal repertoire).
- A person may have difficulty with figurative language (idioms, metaphors, similes, irony).
- A person may have fewer alternative meanings for vocabulary words.
- A person may have a more literal understanding of suggestions, directions, or information.
- A person may have difficulty detecting the main idea, drawing conclusions, and making inferences in conversation, text, TV, and movies.
- A person may have difficulty appreciating humor in TV, movies, cartoons, and interactions with others.
- A person may have difficulty responding to wh- questions.
- A person may have difficulty with embedded and subordinate clauses in complex sentence structures.
- A person may derive meaning from a key word rather than the grammar of a sentence.
- A person may decode and fluently read aloud but be unable to comprehend text.
- A person may have difficulty connecting idea to idea in conversation and text.
- A person may have difficulty with processing speed when listening to spoken messages.
- A person may have difficulty attending to spoken messages.
- When spoken communication is limited, a person may benefit from augmentative devices for speech and writing.
- Educators, therapists and other professionals may focus on the specific language area of syntax. Work in sentence formation and structure may be persued.
- Semantics is another area of language that may be targeted for improvement. Work may involve the meaning of words, sentences, and connected utterances. For more information on semantic communication skills in autism please see the Cognition Feature and the Reading Feature in this web site.
- Pragmatics may also be chosen as a focus of development. Work would involve the use of language in various contexts and media formats. For more information on pragmatic communication skills in autism please see the Social Interaction Feature and the Perspective Feature in this web site.
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