Grammatical judgment and production in male participants with idiopathic autism spectrum disorder.
Andrea Barton-Hulsey, Audra Sterling
PMID 32013619WHAT IT FOUND
In 22 boys with ASD, tense markers, especially irregular past tense, were hardest to judge and produce.
Nonverbal IQ scores did not track these grammar skills, so their grammar should be assessed directly.
Key findings
01The boys had most difficulty judging sentences with dropped tense markers and producing past tense, especially irregular past tense, while judging subject-verb agreement and producing third person singular or copulas and auxiliaries of be were relative strengths.
02Judging dropped tense markers was significantly correlated with producing past tense, irregular past tense, and irregular finite past forms.
03Nonverbal IQ did not significantly relate to grammar judgment or production, and did not account for significant variance after age was controlled.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was small, with 22 boys. All participants were boys, so findings may not apply to girls with ASD. All participants used multi-word combinations and spoke English, so findings may not apply to minimally verbal children or those who do not speak English. The study included only participants with idiopathic ASD and no comparison group, so it cannot say whether this grammar pattern is specific to ASD. The study was a single assessment day, so it cannot show how grammar changes over time. Nonverbal IQ was measured with a brief composite, not a full cognitive assessment. Grammar was measured mainly with the TEGI, and the authors note that naturalistic language samples could show different patterns. ASD symptom severity, joint attention, pragmatic skills, school instruction, and access to intervention were not modeled. Although the confidence intervals did not cross zero, the p-value for the effect of nonverbal IQ in the regression model was 0.054, so the null result should be interpreted with caution.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest. The article metadata lists NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that nonverbal IQ explains grammar problems in ASD. In this study, nonverbal IQ did not significantly correlate with grammar judgment or production, and it did not account for significant variance after age was controlled.