Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Brief Report: Pragmatic Language in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Relationships to Measures of Ability and Disability

  • Brief Report
  • Published:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Pragmatic language skill is regarded as an area of universal deficit in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but little is known about factors related to its development and how it in turn might contribute to skills needed to function in everyday contexts or to the expression of ASD-related symptoms. This study investigated these relationships in 37 high-functioning children with ASD. Multiple regression analyses revealed that structural language skills significantly predicted pragmatic language performance, but also that a significant portion of variance in pragmatic scores could not be accounted for by structural language or nonverbal cognition. Pragmatic language scores, in turn, accounted for significant variance in ADOS Communication and Socialization performance, but did not uniquely predict level of communicative or social adaptive functioning on the Vineland. These findings support the notion of pragmatic language impairment as integral to ASD but also highlight the need to measure pragmatic skills in everyday situations, to target adaptive skills in intervention and to intervene in functional, community-based contexts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adams, C. (2002). Practitioner review: The assessment of language pragmatics. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 43(8), 973–987. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00226.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baltaxe, C. (1977). Pragmatic deficits in the language of autistic adolescents. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 2(4), 176–180. doi:10.1093/jpepsy/2.4.176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baltaxe, C., & d’Angiola, N. (1992). Cohesion in the discourse interaction of autistic specific language impaired, and normal children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 22, 1–22. doi:10.1007/BF01046399.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bartak, L., Rutter, M., & Cox, A. (1975). A comparative study of infantile autism and specific developmental receptive language disorder: 1: The children. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 127–145.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bartolucci, G., Pierce, S., & Streiner, D. (1980). Cross sectional studies of grammatical morphemes in autistic and mentally retarded children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 10, 39–50. doi:10.1007/BF02408431.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bartolucci, G., Pierce, S., Steiner, D., & Tolkin-Eppel, P. (1976). Phonological investigation of verbal autistic and mentally retarded subjects. Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 6, 303–315. doi:10.1007/BF01537908.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, D. (1998). Development of the Children’s Communication checklist (CCC): A method for assessing qualitative aspects of communication impairment in children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 39(6), 879–891. doi:10.1017/S0021963098002832.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, D. (2003). The Children’s Communication Checklist, Second Edition, CCC-2 Manual. London: The Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, D., & Adams, C. (1989). Conversational characteristics of children with semantic-pragmatic disorder. II: What features lead to a judgement of inappropriacy? The British Journal of Disorders of Communication, 24, 241–263. doi:10.3109/13682828909019890.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, D., & Baird, G. (2001). Parent and teacher report of pragmatic aspects of communication: Use of the Children’s Communication Checklist in a clinical setting. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 43, 809–818. doi:10.1017/S0012162201001475.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boucher, J. (1976). Articulation in early childhood autism. Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 6, 297–302. doi:10.1007/BF01537907.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boucher, J. (1988). Word fluency in high-functioning autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 18, 637–645. doi:10.1007/BF02211881.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bryson, S., Clark, B., & Smith, T. (1988). First report of an Canadian epidemiological study of autistic syndromes. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 29, 433–445. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1988.tb00735.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cantwell, D., Baker, L., & Rutter, M. (1978). A comparative study of infantile autism and specific developmental receptive language disorder—IV: Analysis of syntax and language function. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 19, 351–362. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1978.tb00481.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, C., Prior, M., & Kinsella, G. (2002). The relationship between executive function abilities, adaptive behavior, and academic achievement in children with externalizing behavior problems. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 43(6), 785–796.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eigsti, I., Bennetto, L., & Dadlani, M. (2007). Beyond pragmatics: Morphosyntactic development in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 1007–1023. doi:10.1007/s10803-006-0239-2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, E. (2004). Evaluating the theory of executive dysfunction in autism. Developmental Review, 24, 189–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanner, L. (1946). Irrelevant and metaphorical language. American Journal of Psychiatry, 103, 242–246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kjelgaard, M., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2001). An investigation of language impairment in autism: Implications for genetic subgroups. Language and Cognitive Processes, 16, 287–308.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klin, A., Saulnier, C., Sparrow, S., Cicchetti, D., Volkmar, F., & Lord, C. (2007). Social and communication abilities and disabilities in higher functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders: The Vineland and the ADOS. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 748–759.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Landa, R. (2000). Social language use in Asperger syndrome and high-functioning Autism. In A. Klin, F. Volkmar, & S. Sparrow (Eds.), Asperger syndrome (pp. 125–158). New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., & Paul, R. (1997). Language and communication in Autism. In F. Volkmar, R. Paul, & A. Klin (Eds.), Handbook on autism and pervasive developmental disorders (3rd ed.). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Rutter, M., diLavore, P., & Risi, S. (1999). Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule Manual. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Rutter, M., & Le Couteur, A. (1994). Autism diagnostic interview-revised: A revised version of a diagnostic interview for caregivers of the individuals with possible pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24(5), 659–685.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paul, R., & Cohen, D. J. (1984). Responses to contingent queries in adults with mental retardation and pervasive developmental disorders. Applied Psycholinguistics, 5, 349–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phelps-Terasaki, D., & Phelps-Gunn, T. (1992). Test of pragmatic language. East Moline, IL: Linguisystems.

    Google Scholar 

  • Philofsky, A., Fidler, D., & Hepburn, S. (2007). Pragmatic language profiles of school-age children with autism spectrum disorder and Williams syndrome. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 368–380.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rapin, I., & Dunn, M. (2003). Update on the language disorder of individuals on the autism spectrum. Brain and Development, 25, 166–172.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1965). Speech disorders in a series of autistic children. In A. Franklin (Ed.), Children with communication problems (pp. 39–47). London: Pitman Medical Publishing Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Semel, E., Wiig, E., & Secord, W. (1995). Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals 3 (CELF-3). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sparrow, S., Balla, D., & Cichetti, D. (1984). Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales. American Guidance Services: Circle Pines, MN.

    Google Scholar 

  • Surian, L., Baron-Cohen, S., & Van der Lely, H. (1996). Are children with autism deaf to Gricean maxims? Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 1, 55–72.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tager-Flusberg, H. (1981). On the nature of linguistic functioning in early infantile autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 11, 45–56.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tager-Flusberg, H. (1985). The conceptual basis for referential word meaning in children with autism. Child Development, 56, 1167–1178.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tager-Flusberg, H., & Anderson, M. (1991). The development of contingent discourse ability in autistic children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 1123–1134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tager-Flusberg, H., Calkins, S., Noin, I., Baumberger, T., Anderson, M., & Chadwick-Denis, A. (1990). A longitudinal study of language acquisition in autistic and Down syndrome children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 20(1), 1–21.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tager-Flusberg, H., Paul, R., & Lord, C. (2005). Language and communication in autism. In F. Volkmar, R. Paul, & A. Klin (Eds.), Handbook on autism and pervasive developmental disorders (3rd ed., pp. 335–364). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorndike, R. L., Hager, E. P., & Sattler, J. M. (1986). Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (4th ed.). Chicago: Riverside.

    Google Scholar 

  • Volden, J. (2002). Features leading to judgments of inappropriacy in the language of speakers with ASD: A preliminary study. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, 26(3), 138–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Volden, J., & Lord, C. (1991). Neologisms and idiosyncratic language in autistic speakers. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 21(2), 109–130.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, D., Goldstein, G., & Minshew, N. (2006). Neuropsychologic functioning in children with autism: Further evidence for disordered complex information-processing. Child Neuropsychology, 12, 279–298.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Young, E., Diehl, J., Morris, D., Hyman, S., & Bennetto, L. (2005). The use of two language tests to identify pragmatic language problems in children with autism spectrum disorders. Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, 36, 62–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

These data were collected as part of a larger study, funded by NIH Grant # HD-01-110, held by Susan Bryson. The authors thank NIH for their generous support. The first author also especially thanks Susan Bryson for generously sharing her data. Portions of the data were presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research 2007, Seattle, Washington, and at the Society for Research in Child Language Development 2007, Madison, Wisconsin. As always, the authors wish to acknowledge the generous contribution of time and energy from the participants and their families.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Speech Pathology and Audiology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

    Joanne Volden & Julie White

  2. Autism Research Institute of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

    Joanne Volden

  3. Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Jamesie Coolican & Nancy Garon

  4. IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Canada

    Nancy Garon & Susan Bryson

  5. Departments of Pediatrics and Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada

    Susan Bryson

Authors
  1. Joanne Volden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jamesie Coolican
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nancy Garon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Julie White
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Susan Bryson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joanne Volden.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Volden, J., Coolican, J., Garon, N. et al. Brief Report: Pragmatic Language in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Relationships to Measures of Ability and Disability. J Autism Dev Disord 39, 388–393 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-008-0618-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-008-0618-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation