Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-24hb2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-19T09:53:41.614Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Differences in assertive speech acts produced by children with autism, Asperger syndrome, specific language impairment, and normal development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2003

KATHRYN ZIATAS
Affiliation:
The University of Western Australia
KEVIN DURKIN
Affiliation:
The University of Western Australia
CHRIS PRATT
Affiliation:
La Trobe University

Extract

The assertive speech acts of children with autism (n = 12) and Asperger syndrome (n = 12), individually matched to children with specific language impairment (SLI; n = 24) and children with normal development (n = 24) were studied in the context of gently structured conversation. These children also completed the false belief test of theory of mind. The children with autism used significantly lower proportions of assertions involving explanations and descriptions than the children with SLI or normal development and significantly lower proportions of assertions involving internal state and explanations than the children with Asperger syndrome. The children with autism used a higher proportion of assertions involving identifications than any other group. The assertions of the children with Asperger syndrome were generally not different than those of the children with SLI or normal development except for a higher proportion of assertions involving own internal state. Further analysis of the mental assertions revealed that the children with autism and Asperger syndrome predominantly referred to desire and made few references to thought and belief, whereas the children with SLI and those with normal development used a higher proportion of references to thought and belief.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)