Associations and Dissociations among Phonological Processing Skills, Language Skills and Nonverbal Cognition in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

<b><i>Aims:</i></b> The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of phonological processing in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as it pertains to their nonverbal cognitive and linguistic abilities. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Twenty-one participants between the ages of 9 and 21 years were administered a nonverbal cognitive assessment (Raven test), a language measure that requires receptive and expressive knowledge of semantics, syntax and morphology, as well as the integration across these language domains (CELF-4), and a measure of phonological processing (CTOPP). <b><i>Results:</i></b> Results show that performance on nonword repetition (NWR) that reflects an aspect of phonological memory was significantly low, whereas performance on phoneme reversal, phoneme elision, blending words and memory for digits was within the normal range. Hierarchical regressions with age, nonverbal intelligence (Raven test) and receptive language (CELF) as predictors showed that for NWR and phoneme elision the receptive part of the CELF was the main significant ­predictor, after controlling for age. For phoneme reversal and memory for digits, however, the Raven score was the significant predictor, suggesting that cognitive nonverbal ability is the main factor explaining variability in these tasks. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> A deficit in phonological memory characterizes individuals in the autistic population. This deficit may influence language acquisition in this population consistent with other populations of children with language impairments. Other tasks of phonological awareness, however, might be preserved especially when they do not involve memory for long phonological sequences and when the cognitive abilities are within the norm.

Impact of reading intervention on the phonological awareness of children with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…As the performance of predictive skills presents an interdependent relationship, it is important that professionals working in the context of individuals with ASD, including speech therapists, teachers, psychologists, and educators, are aware of and attentive not only to phonological awareness, but also to another reading-related skill, which is phonological memory because it works together with phonological awareness in learning to read (2,29,58) . Some methodological limitations of this review should be considered.…”

Studies pertaining to language impairment in school-age autistic individuals underreport participant socio-demographics: A systematic review

“…Two studies reported household income (Jyotishi et al, 2017; Kover et al, 2014). As for non-specific indicators, Jokel et al (2021) reported that participant SES was “mid to high” without further details. Barbaro and Dissanayake (2012) used the Socio-Economic Index for Areas (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2018), which is a compound measure including neighborhood- but not participant-level indices: relative SES disadvantage, SES advantage and disadvantage, economic resources, and education and occupation.…”

“…percentage of parents with a bachelor’s degree or higher). Two studies reported descriptive text (Jokel et al, 2021; Jyotishi et al, 2017). These differing descriptors of SES give rise to two considerations.…”

Relationship between autism and brain cortex surface area: genetic correlation and a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

“…The supramarginal gyrus was studied and associated with phonological processing and verbal working memory [ 43 ], also its activation was shown to relate to higher expressive language [ 44 ]. The defect of voice memory is a characteristic of people with ASD and might affect their language acquisition [ 45 ]. The radial unit hypothesis proposes that the expansion of cortical surface area is driven by the proliferation of neural progenitor cells [ 46 ].…”