Production and perception of emotional prosody by adults with autism spectrum disorder.

Only male talkers were recorded, because female participants with ASD could not be recruited in large enough numbers. The talkers were adults with intellectual ability in the normal range, so the results may not apply to children or people with lower intellectual ability. The speech was recorded in a laboratory setting, not in everyday conversation. The ASD and control talker groups differed in age, although age did not affect the measured outcomes. IQ information was not available for the typically developing listeners. Five listeners with ASD also served as talkers, although their listening results did not differ from the other listeners with ASD.

Do not conclude that adults with ASD have flat or monotone emotional speech. In this study, talkers with ASD produced wider pitch range and greater loudness than control talkers, and listeners identified their emotional phrases more accurately, not less. The lower naturalness ratings do not mean the emotion was unclear.