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Spoken word recognition in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders and specific language impairment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 December 2011

TOM LOUCAS*
Affiliation:
University of Reading
NICK RICHES
Affiliation:
University of Reading
GILLIAN BAIRD
Affiliation:
Guy's Hospital, London
ANDREW PICKLES
Affiliation:
De Crespigny Park, London
EMILY SIMONOFF
Affiliation:
De Crespigny Park, London
SUSIE CHANDLER
Affiliation:
Institute of Education, London
TONY CHARMAN
Affiliation:
Institute of Education, London
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Tom Loucas, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Earley Gate, Reading RG6 6AL, United Kingdom. E-mail: t.loucas@reading.ac.uk

Abstract

Spoken word recognition, during gating, appears intact in specific language impairment (SLI). This study used gating to investigate the process in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders plus language impairment (ALI). Adolescents with ALI, SLI, and typical language development (TLD), matched on nonverbal IQ listened to gated words that varied in frequency (low/high) and number of phonological onset neighbors (low/high density). Adolescents with ALI required more speech input to initially identify low-frequency words with low competitor density than those with SLI and those with TLD, who did not differ. These differences may be due to less well specified word form representations in ALI.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011 

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