Whyte Elisabeth M, Nelson Keith E
The Pennsylvania State University, United States.
The Pennsylvania State University, United States.
J Commun Disord. 2015 Mar-Apr;54:2-14. doi: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2015.01.001. Epub 2015 Jan 17.
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulties with understanding pragmatic language and also nonliteral language. However, little is understood about the development of these two language domains. The current study examines pragmatic and nonliteral language development in 69 typically developing (TD) children and 27 children with ASD, ages 5-12 years. For both groups, performance on pragmatic language and nonliteral language scores on the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language increased significantly with chronological age, vocabulary, syntax, and theory of mind abilities both for children with ASD and TD children. Based on a cross-sectional trajectory analysis, the children with ASD showed slower rates of development with chronological age relative to TD children for both the pragmatic language and nonliteral language subtests. However, the groups did not show significant differences in the rate of development for either pragmatic language or nonliteral language abilities with regard to their vocabulary abilities or TOM abilities. It appears that children with ASD may reach levels of pragmatic language that are in line with their current levels of basic language abilities. Both basic language abilities and theory of mind abilities may aid in the development of pragmatic language and nonliteral language abilities.
After reading this article, the reader will understand: (1) the relation between basic language abilities (vocabulary and syntax) and advanced language abilities (pragmatic and nonliteral language), (2) how the cross-sectional trajectory analysis differs from traditional group matching studies, and (3) how pragmatic and nonliteral language development for children with autism shows both similarities and differences compared to typically developing children.
患有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的儿童在理解语用语言和非字面语言方面常常存在困难。然而，对于这两个语言领域的发展情况，人们了解甚少。本研究考察了69名5至12岁的发育正常（TD）儿童和27名患有ASD的儿童的语用和非字面语言发展情况。对于这两组儿童，无论是患有ASD的儿童还是发育正常的儿童，其在口语综合评估中的语用语言和非字面语言得分均随着实际年龄、词汇量、句法以及心理理论能力的提高而显著增加。基于横断面轨迹分析，相对于发育正常的儿童，患有ASD的儿童在语用语言和非字面语言子测试中，其实际年龄的发展速度较慢。然而，在词汇能力或心理理论能力方面，两组在语用语言或非字面语言能力的发展速度上并未表现出显著差异。患有ASD的儿童似乎能够达到与其当前基础语言能力水平相符的语用语言水平。基础语言能力和心理理论能力都可能有助于语用语言和非字面语言能力的发展。
阅读本文后，读者将理解：（1）基础语言能力（词汇和句法）与高级语言能力（语用和非字面语言）之间的关系，（2）横断面轨迹分析与传统组间匹配研究的不同之处，以及（3）与发育正常的儿童相比，自闭症儿童的语用和非字面语言发展的异同。
