Characteristics of Grammar in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Narrative Review of Evidence
Abstract
Introduction: One of the prevalent developmental disorders is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Some children with ASD have language impairments besides communication disorders. Although the main linguistic impairment in this group has been reported in their pragmatic ability, some other linguistic elements such as grammar might be impaired, too. The primary purpose of this narrative review was to study the grammatical characteristics of children with ASD.
Materials and Methods: To find the related documents with this narrative review, we adopted 114 papers from the databases of Google Scholar, Web of Knowledge, Scopus, and PubMed. Out of these, 48 papers were selected to be studied.
Results: The studies grouped into four: group of comparing grammatical characteristics of children with ASD and typically-developing children, group of comparing grammatical characteristics of children with ASD and individuals with specific language impairments, group of investigating the relationship between grammar and the theory of mind in children with ASD, and group of processing basis of grammar in ASD children that is named developmental language disorder recently after specific language disorder.
Conclusion: The studies reported conflicting results because of two main factors: differences in the types of studies and heterogeneity of the ASD group. Thus, some children with ASD show grammar impairments and need precise assessment for proper intervention and treatment.
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8. Brynskov C, Eigsti IM, Jørgensen M, Lemcke S, Bohn OS, Krøjgaard P. Syntax and morphology in Danish-speaking children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2017; 47(2):373-83. [DOI:10.1007/s10803-016-2962-7] [PMID]
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10. Eigsti IM, Bennetto L. Grammaticality judgments in autism: Deviance or delay. Journal of Child Language. 2009; 36(5):999-1021. [DOI:10.1017/S0305000909009362] [PMID]
11. Wittke K, Mastergeorge AM, Ozonoff S, Rogers SJ, Naigles LR. Grammatical language impairment in autism spectrum disorder: Exploring language phenotypes beyond standardized testing. Frontiers in Psychology. 2017; 8:532. [DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00532] [PMID] [PMCID]
12. Rapin I, Dunn M. Update on the language disorders of individuals on the autistic spectrum. Brain and Development. 2003; 25(3):166-72. [DOI:10.1016/S0387-7604(02)00191-2]
13. Fein D, Waterhouse L. Autism is not a disorder of language. Boston: The New England Child Language Association; 1979.
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15. Bartolucci G, Pierce SJ, Streiner D. Cross-sectional studies of grammatical morphemes in autistic and mentally retarded children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 1980; 10(1):39-50. [DOI:10.1007/BF02408431] [PMID]
16. Stromswold K. The acquisition of subject and object wh-questions. Language Acquisition. 1995; 4(1-2):5-48. [DOI:10.1080/10489223.1995.9671658]
17. Tager-Flusberg H. Dissociations in form and function in the acquisition of language by autistic children. Constraints on language acquisition: Studies of Atypical Children. 1994; 17594.
18. Goodwin A, Fein D, Naigles LR. Comprehension of wh‐questions precedes their production in typical development and autism spectrum disorders. Autism Research. 2012; 5(2):109-23. [DOI:10.1002/aur.1220] [PMID] [PMCID]
19. Jyotishi M, Fein D, Naigles L. Investigating the grammatical and pragmatic origins of wh-questions in children with autism spectrum disorders. Frontiers in Psychology. 2017; 8:319. [DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00319] [PMID] [PMCID]
20. Conti‐Ramsden G, Simkin Z, Botting N. The prevalence of autistic spectrum disorders in adolescents with a history of Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2006; 47(6):621-8. [DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01584.x] [PMID]
21. Bishop DV. Pragmatic language impairment: A correlate of SLI, a distinct subgroup, or part of the autistic continuum? In: Speech and Language Impairments in Children. Psychology Press. 2014; 23:113-28.
22. McGregor KK, Berns AJ, Owen AJ, Michels SA, Duff D, Bahnsen AJ, et al. Associations between syntax and the lexicon among children with or without ASD and language impairment. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2012; 42(1):35-47. [DOI:10.1007/s10803-011-1210-4] [PMID] [PMCID]
23. Tomblin JB, Zhang X. The dimensionality of language ability in school-age children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 2006; 49(6):1193–208. [DOI:10.1044/1092-4388(2006/086)]
24. Kjelgaard MM, Tager-Flusberg H. An investigation of language impairment in autism: Implications for genetic subgroups. Language and Cognitive Processes. 2001; 16(2-3):287-308. [DOI:10.1080/01690960042000058] [PMID] [PMCID]
25. Riches NG, Loucas T, Baird G, Charman T, Simonoff E. Sentence repetition in adolescents with specific language impairments and autism: An investigation of complex syntax. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders. 2010; 45(1):47-60. [DOI:10.3109/13682820802647676] [PMID]
26. Rapin I. Practitioner review: Developmental language disorders: A clinical update. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 1996; 37(6):643-55. [DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1996.tb01456.x] [PMID]
27. Whitehouse AJ, Barry JG, Bishop DV. The broader language phenotype of autism: A comparison with specific language impairment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2007; 48(8):822-30. [DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01765.x] [PMID] [PMCID]
28. Premack D, Woodruff G. Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 1978; 1(4):515-26. [DOI:10.1017/S0140525X00076512]
29. Baron‐Cohen S. The autistic child’s theory of mind: A case of specific developmental delay. Journal of child Psychology and Psychiatry. 1989; 30(2):285-97. [DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1989.tb00241.x] [PMID]
30. Wimmer H, Perner J. Beliefs about beliefs: Representation and constraining function of wrong beliefs in young children’s understanding of deception. Cognition. 1983; 13(1):103-28. [DOI:10.1016/0010-0277(83)90004-5]
31. Perner J, Leekam SR, Wimmer H. Three‐year‐olds’ difficulty with false belief: The case for a conceptual deficit. British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 1987; 5(2):125-37. [DOI:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1987.tb01048.x]
32. Happé FG. The role of age and verbal ability in the theory of mind task performance of subjects with autism. Child Development. 1995; 66(3):843-55. [DOI:10.2307/1131954] [PMID]
33. Tager-Flusberg H, Joseph RM. Identifying neurocognitive phenotypes in autism. Philosophical transactions of the royal society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences. 2003; 358(1430):303-14. [DOI:10.1098/rstb.2002.1198] [PMID] [PMCID]
34. De Villiers JG, Pyers JE. Complements to cognition: A longitudinal study of the relationship between complex syntax and false-belief-understanding. Cognitive Development. 2002; 17(1):1037-60. [DOI:10.1016/S0885-2014(02)00073-4]
35. Lind SE, Bowler DM. Language and theory of mind in autism spectrum disorder: The relationship between complement syntax and false belief task performance. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2009; 39(6):929-37. [DOI:10.1007/s10803-009-0702-y] [PMID]
36. Ullman MT. Contributions of memory circuits to language: The declarative/procedural model. Cognition. 2004; 92(1-2):231-70. [DOI:10.1016/j.cognition.2003.10.008] [PMID]
37. Pinker S, Ullman M. Combination and structure, not gradedness, is the issue. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 2002; 6(11):472-4. [DOI:10.1016/S1364-6613(02)02013-2]
38. Just MA, Cherkassky VL, Keller TA, Minshew NJ. Cortical activation and synchronization during sentence comprehension in high-functioning autism: Evidence of underconnectivity. Brain. 2004; 127(8):1811-21. [DOI:10.1093/brain/awh199] [PMID]
39. Snyder W. Child language: The parametric approach. London: Oxford University Press; 2007.
40. De Villiers J. Empty categories and complex sentences: The case of wh-questions. Handbook of Child Language. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing; 1995. [DOI:10.1111/b.9780631203124.1996.00021.x]
41. Baron‐Cohen S, Campbell R, Karmiloff‐Smith A, Grant J, Walker J. Are children with autism blind to the mentalistic significance of the eyes? British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 1995; 13(4):379-98. [DOI:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1995.tb00687.x]
42. Mottron L, Dawson M, Soulieres I, Hubert B, Burack J. Enhanced perceptual functioning in autism: An update, and eight principles of autistic perception. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2006; 36(1):27-43. [DOI:10.1007/s10803-005-0040-7] [PMID]
43. Swensen LD, Kelley E, Fein D, Naigles LR. Processes of language acquisition in children with autism: Evidence from preferential looking. Child Development. 2007; 78(2):542-57. [DOI:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01022.x] [PMID]
44. Tomasello M. Do young children have adult syntactic competence? Cognition. 2000; 74(3):209-53. [DOI:10.1016/S0010-0277(99)00069-4]
45. Minshew NJ, Meyer J, Goldstein G. Abstract reasoning in autism: A disassociation between concept formation and concept identification. Neuropsychology. 2002; 16(3):327-34. [DOI:10.1037/0894-4105.16.3.327] [PMID]
2. Volden J, Phillips L. Measuring pragmatic language in speakers with autism spectrum disorders: Comparing the Children’s Communication Checklist-2 and the Test of Pragmatic Language. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology; 2010; 19(3). [DOI:10.1044/1058-0360(2010/09-0011)]
3. Walenski M, Mostofsky SH, Ullman MT. Inflectional morphology in high-functioning autism: Evidence for speeded grammatical processing. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. 2014; 8(11):1607-21. [DOI:10.1016/j.rasd.2014.08.009] [PMID] [PMCID]
4. Cohen DJ, Volkmar FR. Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc; 1997.
5. Pinker S, Ullman M. Combination and structure, not gradedness, is the issue. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 2002; 6(11):472-4. [DOI:10.1016/S1364-6613(02)02013-2]
6. Naigles LR, Tek S. ‘Form is easy, meaning is hard’ revisited: Characterizing the strengths and weaknesses of language in children with autism spectrum disorder. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science. 2017; 8(4):e1438. [DOI:10.1002/wcs.1438] [PMID]
7. Tager-Flusberg, H. Calkins, S. Does imitation facilitate the acquisition of grammar? Evidence from a study of autistic, Down’s syndrome and normal children. Journal of Child Language, 1990; 17(3):591-606. [DOI:10.1017/S0305000900010898] [PMID]
8. Brynskov C, Eigsti IM, Jørgensen M, Lemcke S, Bohn OS, Krøjgaard P. Syntax and morphology in Danish-speaking children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2017; 47(2):373-83. [DOI:10.1007/s10803-016-2962-7] [PMID]
9. Eigsti IM, Bennetto L, Dadlani MB. Beyond pragmatics: Morphosyntactic development in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2007; 37(6):1007-23. [DOI:10.1007/s10803-006-0239-2] [PMID]
10. Eigsti IM, Bennetto L. Grammaticality judgments in autism: Deviance or delay. Journal of Child Language. 2009; 36(5):999-1021. [DOI:10.1017/S0305000909009362] [PMID]
11. Wittke K, Mastergeorge AM, Ozonoff S, Rogers SJ, Naigles LR. Grammatical language impairment in autism spectrum disorder: Exploring language phenotypes beyond standardized testing. Frontiers in Psychology. 2017; 8:532. [DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00532] [PMID] [PMCID]
12. Rapin I, Dunn M. Update on the language disorders of individuals on the autistic spectrum. Brain and Development. 2003; 25(3):166-72. [DOI:10.1016/S0387-7604(02)00191-2]
13. Fein D, Waterhouse L. Autism is not a disorder of language. Boston: The New England Child Language Association; 1979.
14. Pierce S, Bartolucci G. A syntactic investigation of verbal autistic, mentally retarded, and normal children. Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia. 1977; 7(2):121-34. [DOI:10.1007/BF01537724] [PMID]
15. Bartolucci G, Pierce SJ, Streiner D. Cross-sectional studies of grammatical morphemes in autistic and mentally retarded children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 1980; 10(1):39-50. [DOI:10.1007/BF02408431] [PMID]
16. Stromswold K. The acquisition of subject and object wh-questions. Language Acquisition. 1995; 4(1-2):5-48. [DOI:10.1080/10489223.1995.9671658]
17. Tager-Flusberg H. Dissociations in form and function in the acquisition of language by autistic children. Constraints on language acquisition: Studies of Atypical Children. 1994; 17594.
18. Goodwin A, Fein D, Naigles LR. Comprehension of wh‐questions precedes their production in typical development and autism spectrum disorders. Autism Research. 2012; 5(2):109-23. [DOI:10.1002/aur.1220] [PMID] [PMCID]
19. Jyotishi M, Fein D, Naigles L. Investigating the grammatical and pragmatic origins of wh-questions in children with autism spectrum disorders. Frontiers in Psychology. 2017; 8:319. [DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00319] [PMID] [PMCID]
20. Conti‐Ramsden G, Simkin Z, Botting N. The prevalence of autistic spectrum disorders in adolescents with a history of Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2006; 47(6):621-8. [DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01584.x] [PMID]
21. Bishop DV. Pragmatic language impairment: A correlate of SLI, a distinct subgroup, or part of the autistic continuum? In: Speech and Language Impairments in Children. Psychology Press. 2014; 23:113-28.
22. McGregor KK, Berns AJ, Owen AJ, Michels SA, Duff D, Bahnsen AJ, et al. Associations between syntax and the lexicon among children with or without ASD and language impairment. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2012; 42(1):35-47. [DOI:10.1007/s10803-011-1210-4] [PMID] [PMCID]
23. Tomblin JB, Zhang X. The dimensionality of language ability in school-age children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 2006; 49(6):1193–208. [DOI:10.1044/1092-4388(2006/086)]
24. Kjelgaard MM, Tager-Flusberg H. An investigation of language impairment in autism: Implications for genetic subgroups. Language and Cognitive Processes. 2001; 16(2-3):287-308. [DOI:10.1080/01690960042000058] [PMID] [PMCID]
25. Riches NG, Loucas T, Baird G, Charman T, Simonoff E. Sentence repetition in adolescents with specific language impairments and autism: An investigation of complex syntax. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders. 2010; 45(1):47-60. [DOI:10.3109/13682820802647676] [PMID]
26. Rapin I. Practitioner review: Developmental language disorders: A clinical update. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 1996; 37(6):643-55. [DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1996.tb01456.x] [PMID]
27. Whitehouse AJ, Barry JG, Bishop DV. The broader language phenotype of autism: A comparison with specific language impairment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2007; 48(8):822-30. [DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01765.x] [PMID] [PMCID]
28. Premack D, Woodruff G. Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 1978; 1(4):515-26. [DOI:10.1017/S0140525X00076512]
29. Baron‐Cohen S. The autistic child’s theory of mind: A case of specific developmental delay. Journal of child Psychology and Psychiatry. 1989; 30(2):285-97. [DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1989.tb00241.x] [PMID]
30. Wimmer H, Perner J. Beliefs about beliefs: Representation and constraining function of wrong beliefs in young children’s understanding of deception. Cognition. 1983; 13(1):103-28. [DOI:10.1016/0010-0277(83)90004-5]
31. Perner J, Leekam SR, Wimmer H. Three‐year‐olds’ difficulty with false belief: The case for a conceptual deficit. British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 1987; 5(2):125-37. [DOI:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1987.tb01048.x]
32. Happé FG. The role of age and verbal ability in the theory of mind task performance of subjects with autism. Child Development. 1995; 66(3):843-55. [DOI:10.2307/1131954] [PMID]
33. Tager-Flusberg H, Joseph RM. Identifying neurocognitive phenotypes in autism. Philosophical transactions of the royal society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences. 2003; 358(1430):303-14. [DOI:10.1098/rstb.2002.1198] [PMID] [PMCID]
34. De Villiers JG, Pyers JE. Complements to cognition: A longitudinal study of the relationship between complex syntax and false-belief-understanding. Cognitive Development. 2002; 17(1):1037-60. [DOI:10.1016/S0885-2014(02)00073-4]
35. Lind SE, Bowler DM. Language and theory of mind in autism spectrum disorder: The relationship between complement syntax and false belief task performance. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2009; 39(6):929-37. [DOI:10.1007/s10803-009-0702-y] [PMID]
36. Ullman MT. Contributions of memory circuits to language: The declarative/procedural model. Cognition. 2004; 92(1-2):231-70. [DOI:10.1016/j.cognition.2003.10.008] [PMID]
37. Pinker S, Ullman M. Combination and structure, not gradedness, is the issue. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 2002; 6(11):472-4. [DOI:10.1016/S1364-6613(02)02013-2]
38. Just MA, Cherkassky VL, Keller TA, Minshew NJ. Cortical activation and synchronization during sentence comprehension in high-functioning autism: Evidence of underconnectivity. Brain. 2004; 127(8):1811-21. [DOI:10.1093/brain/awh199] [PMID]
39. Snyder W. Child language: The parametric approach. London: Oxford University Press; 2007.
40. De Villiers J. Empty categories and complex sentences: The case of wh-questions. Handbook of Child Language. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing; 1995. [DOI:10.1111/b.9780631203124.1996.00021.x]
41. Baron‐Cohen S, Campbell R, Karmiloff‐Smith A, Grant J, Walker J. Are children with autism blind to the mentalistic significance of the eyes? British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 1995; 13(4):379-98. [DOI:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1995.tb00687.x]
42. Mottron L, Dawson M, Soulieres I, Hubert B, Burack J. Enhanced perceptual functioning in autism: An update, and eight principles of autistic perception. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2006; 36(1):27-43. [DOI:10.1007/s10803-005-0040-7] [PMID]
43. Swensen LD, Kelley E, Fein D, Naigles LR. Processes of language acquisition in children with autism: Evidence from preferential looking. Child Development. 2007; 78(2):542-57. [DOI:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01022.x] [PMID]
44. Tomasello M. Do young children have adult syntactic competence? Cognition. 2000; 74(3):209-53. [DOI:10.1016/S0010-0277(99)00069-4]
45. Minshew NJ, Meyer J, Goldstein G. Abstract reasoning in autism: A disassociation between concept formation and concept identification. Neuropsychology. 2002; 16(3):327-34. [DOI:10.1037/0894-4105.16.3.327] [PMID]
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 13 No 2 (2019) | |
| Section | Review Article(s) | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.32598/JMR.13.2.65 | |
| Keywords | ||
| Autism spectrum disorder Grammar Syntax Morphology Morphosyntax | ||
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How to Cite
1.
Beytollahi S, Soleymani Z. Characteristics of Grammar in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Narrative Review of Evidence. jmr. 2019;13(2):65-78.
