The pausative pattern of speakers with and without high-functioning autism spectrum disorder from long silences

Abstract

This study aims to accomplish the functional and positional analysis of long silences – single, double or triple – in the oral productions of 20 speakers with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and 20 typically-developing speakers. Thus, a pausative pattern, which combines different quantitative measures, is proposed for speakers with this disorder. Different comparisons showed homogeneity in the relative average between the word quantity and the number of long pauses in oral interactions of both groups. Finally, the excess of long internal shared pauses that are produced by speakers with high-functioning autism due to comprehension problems or lack of attention during dialogue is significant.