Objectively defined linguistic parameters in children with autism and other developmental disabilities.

The language of children with autism and other developmental disabilities was examined systematically according to a set of objectively defined linguistic parameters. These criteria were drawn from clinical observations reported in the literature and from developmental norms of language acquisition. Data analysis identified sets of parameters that were correlated with psychiatrists' clinical diagnoses but failed to isolate individual parameters (such as echolalia or noncommunicativeness) that have been suggested to be pathonomic.