Language Skills of Males with Fragile X Syndrome or Nonsyndromic Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Angela John Thurman, Andrea McDuffie, Randi J Hagerman and 2 others
PMID 28074353WHAT IT FOUND
Boys with fragile X syndrome had stronger vocabulary than boys with autism after age, nonverbal IQ, and autism severity were considered.
Grammar did not separate the groups. Assess vocabulary and grammar separately, not as one language score.
Key findings
01Boys with fragile X syndrome had receptive vocabulary raw scores about 25 points higher and expressive vocabulary raw scores about 17 points higher than boys with nonsyndromic autism after age, nonverbal IQ, and autism severity were held constant.
02Within each group, the language profiles differed. Boys with fragile X syndrome had vocabulary scores higher than grammar scores, and boys with nonsyndromic autism had a relatively flat profile, but their expressive grammar scores were lower than their nonverbal IQ scores.
03The strongest predictors of language scores differed by group. Age contributed most for boys with fragile X syndrome, while nonverbal IQ contributed most for boys with nonsyndromic autism, and autism symptom scores did not predict language in the autism group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only boys, so it gives no direct information about girls with fragile X syndrome or autism. The boys with autism all had nonverbal IQ scores of 85 or lower, so the findings may not apply to higher-functioning autism. The language tests focused mainly on concrete vocabulary, not relational or closed-class words. These word types may matter for grammar. The autism severity scores may have been influenced by language ability in the fragile X group, so between-group comparisons are less straightforward. Only a small number of predictors were examined, so other factors that affect language were not considered. The paper compares groups and does not test an intervention, so it cannot tell you which therapy works.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that grammar needs no attention in autism because grammar scores did not differ between the two groups. In boys with autism, expressive grammar scores were lower than their nonverbal IQ scores.