Developmental Language Disorder and Autism: Commonalities and Differences on Language

Abstract

Language and communication deficits characterize both autism spectrum disorder and developmental language disorder, and the possibility of there being a common profile of these is a matter of tireless debate in the research community. This experimental study addresses the relation of these two developmental conditions in the critical topic of language. A total of 103 children (79 males, 24 females) participated in the present study. Specifically, the study’s sample consisted of 40 children with autism, 28 children with developmental language disorder, and 35 typically developing children between 6 and 12 years old. All children completed language and cognitive measures. The results showed that there is a subgroup inside the autism group of children who demonstrate language difficulties similar to children with developmental language disorder. Specifically, two different subgroups were derived from the autism group; those with language impairment and those without. Both autism and language-impaired groups scored lower than typically developing children on all language measures indicating a common pathology in language ability. The results of this study shed light on the relation between the two disorders, supporting the assumption of a subgroup with language impairment inside the autism spectrum disorder population. The common picture presented by the two developmental conditions highlights the need for further research in the field.

An Investigation of Working Memory Profile and Fluid Intelligence in Children With Neurodevelopmental Difficulties

“…Furthermore, children with DS consistently register worse performances than typical developing children on verbal WM tasks a performance that may well be under general genetic constraints (Georgiou and Spanoudis, 2021). Additionally, the lack of associations between fluid intelligence and all working memory measures may be associated with the fact that experimenters were giving an extra administration time processing and this can fade the cognitive relationship of fluid intelligence and working memory for the DS group (Georgiou et al, 2021). The lack of relations in DS may be supported by the idea that working memory difficulties do not reflect impairment to a distinct cognitive system, but rather could be impacted by specific genetic modular deficits that are characteristic of the disorder (Lanfranchi et al, 2015).…”

“…Additionally, literature review reveals that Working Memory is strongly aligned with intellectual abilities in typical development children but not always for clinical groups (Higo et al, 2014). Furthermore, children with DS consistently register worse performances than typical developing children on verbal WM tasks a performance that may well be under general genetic constraints (Georgiou and Spanoudis, 2021). Additionally, the lack of associations between fluid intelligence and all working memory measures may be associated with the fact that experimenters were giving an extra administration time processing and this can fade the cognitive relationship of fluid intelligence and working memory for the DS group (Georgiou et al, 2021).…”

Challenges Surrounding the Diagnosis of Autism in Children

“…The core symptoms of children with DLD include impairments in the ability to express and/or comprehend language with difficulties in at least one of the linguistic domains: morphology, syntax, lexicon, phonology, and pragmatics, in the presence of normal non-verbal IQ, and no other significant developmental deficits. 77,78 Nevertheless, there are areas of commonalities between ASD and DLD that encumber differential diagnosis. It has been reported that 50-60% of children diagnosed with ASD have language impairment, 79,80 independent of nonverbal IQ.…”

“…In contrast, in ALN structural linguistic domains are intact. 77,82,83 A few hallmarks may assist in the differential diagnosis between ASD (ALN/ALI) and DLD. First, although young children with DLD and ASD show delays in interpersonal skills such as sharing affect, using gaze, and initiating communication, the ability of children with DLD to engage in pretend play, use gestures to communicate and respond to language can contribute to differentiation from ASD.…”

The Influence of ASD Severity on Parental Overload: The Moderating Role of Parental Well-Being and the ASD Pragmatic Level

“…Thus, research indicates that people with ASD have an alteration in the pragmatic rules that dominate the construction of any conversation, and a literal understanding of the message, no intentionality or interest in communicating, nor any understanding of the sender’s intention [ 22 ]. They also have a common pathology in language ability [ 23 , 24 ], lack reciprocity in social discourse, find difficulty in changing the topic of conversation, and use irrelevant details of discourse [ 3 ]. They have difficulties with interpreting object pronouns (e.g., him), which is delayed compared to that of reflexives (e.g., himself) [ 25 ].…”