Background: While differences in communication comprise a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), those with the disorder experience a wide range of language abilities and impairments. Studies have compared language delay in children with ASD to language delay in those without the disorder—demonstrating an overlap in the difficulties they encounter producing sounds, words, and language.

What’s New: On June 14, 2015, the Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders published a study assessing language impairment in children with and without ASD. The researchers administered a battery of language tests to 60 children between 5 and 8 years of age. They found that children who experienced language impairments (both with and without ASD) had more trouble remembering words that they had heard than children with ASD and no language impairment. However, the ability to repeat non-word sounds differed among children with language delay—those with ASD outperformed those without ASD in repeating short non-word sounds.

Why it’s important: This study suggests that the neurodevelopmental factors leading to language delay in children with ASD are different from those leading to impairments in children without the disorder. Long-term studies of both populations could shed light on how patterns in their language and memory compare as they mature.

Communication

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