Researchers Have Found A New Language Delay In Children With Autism

Health officials are continually learning new and interesting facts about autism.

Now researchers at the University of Texas at Austin are examining certain linguistic characteristics in autistic children and how their reluctance to use pronouns could help pave the way for more accurate diagnostics in the future.

"Our work suggests that the opacity of pronouns in English and other spoken languages is not at the root of the problem," said Shield, a UT Austin Linguistics alumnus and lead author for the study. "We suspect, though more work is needed, that people with autism may differ in their experiences of selfhood."

Previous research had linked some of the pronoun usage to language confusion or the automatic repetition of noises or phrases.

However, researchers found that the main difference between both signed and spoken language seemed to be that pronouns are points with the index finger toward oneself or others rather than spoken words that do not provide learners with any clue as to why they are referring to themselves. Furthermore, deaf children with autism avoided pronouns, preferring to sign themselves.

For example, when shown a picture of himself, a child with autism - hearing or deaf - is more likely to say "that is Johnny" rather than "that's me."

"This is interesting because it shows that children with autism have difficulty with pronouns, regardless of whether those pronouns are spoken or signed, and regardless of whether the pronouns make their referents transparent," added Shield.

Furthermore, researchers found that deaf children with autism tended to not reverse pronouns as hearing ones with autism did. It was clinically important because most existing screening and diagnositic instruments for autism require that parents and clinicians about pronoun reversal. 

"This research has great clinical significance for the deaf community and for educators of deaf children," Meier concluded. "It helps us to better understand the linguistic markers of autism in all children, deaf or hearing, signing or speaking."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.