Toward a Definition of the Linguistic Profile of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Andrea Marini; Martina Ozbič; Rita Magni; Giovanni Valeri

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00808

Toward a Definition of the Linguistic Profile of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Front Psychol. 2020 May 5:11:808. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00808. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Andrea Marini^{1

2}, Martina Ozbič², Rita Magni³, Giovanni Valeri³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Languages, Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, University of Udine, Udine, Italy.
² Scientific Institute IRCCS "Eugenio Medea", San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy.
³ Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.

Abstract

The current investigation assessed linguistic and narrative abilities in a cohort of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The linguistic assessment was performed with both traditional tests and a multilevel procedure for discourse analysis. The results showed difficulties at different stages of message planning, organization, and microlinguistic processing (i.e., lexical selection and grammatical processing). Their macrolinguistic impairments were likely related to more general difficulties in the prelinguistic conceptual phase of message planning and mental model generation. Such weaknesses included a difficulty in the non-verbal conceptualization of the story and the generation of an internal representation of the addressee's mental model.

Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder; developmental neuropsychology; language; narrative analysis; neurolinguistics.