Relations between language, non-verbal cognition, and conceptualization in non- or minimally verbal individuals with ASD across the lifespan
Background & aims Individuals with non- or minimally verbal autism (nvASD) are primarily characterized by a severe speech production deficit, with speech limited to no or only a few words by school age. Significant unclarity remains over variability in language profiles across the lifespan, the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Autism and Developmental Language Impairments |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/23969415211053264 |
| _version_ | 1797334010977845248 |
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| author | Dominika Slušná Andrea Rodríguez Berta Salvadó Agustín Vicente Wolfram Hinzen |
| author_facet | Dominika Slušná Andrea Rodríguez Berta Salvadó Agustín Vicente Wolfram Hinzen |
| author_sort | Dominika Slušná |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background & aims Individuals with non- or minimally verbal autism (nvASD) are primarily characterized by a severe speech production deficit, with speech limited to no or only a few words by school age. Significant unclarity remains over variability in language profiles across the lifespan, the nature of the language impairment seen, and (dis-) associations between linguistic and nonverbal cognitive measures. Methods To address these questions, we recruited both a school-age and an adult group with nvASD (total N = 49) and investigated relations between expressive and receptive language, and between these and nonverbal intelligence quotient (NVIQ) and sense-making capacities (the ComFor test). Results Results revealed limited variation across this sample in receptive language, which in turn predicted expressive language levels. Importantly, an upward trend in verbal mental age (VMA) across increasing chronological age was seen in the youngsters (only). A radical dissociation between NVIQ and both expressive and receptive language transpired as well, and a subset of individuals with normal NVIQ were comparable in terms of any other cognitive aspect. Sense-making reached symbolic levels in 62.2% of the sample and loaded on both verbal and nonverbal factors. Conclusions These patterns inform theories of nvASD by revealing an impairment that is not conceptualizable as one of expressive language only, sharply limits learning opportunities across the lifespan, and cannot be compensated for by nonverbal cognition. Implications These findings stress the need to seize developmental opportunities that may disappear when youngsters turn into adults, via therapies that specifically target language as a central cognitive system comprising both production and comprehension. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T08:13:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8dd4d9caf230488f9f6ffca88986ba5e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2396-9415 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T08:13:37Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Autism and Developmental Language Impairments |
| spelling | doaj.art-8dd4d9caf230488f9f6ffca88986ba5e2024-02-02T08:03:50ZengSAGE PublishingAutism and Developmental Language Impairments2396-94152021-11-01610.1177/23969415211053264Relations between language, non-verbal cognition, and conceptualization in non- or minimally verbal individuals with ASD across the lifespanDominika SlušnáAndrea RodríguezBerta SalvadóAgustín VicenteWolfram HinzenBackground & aims Individuals with non- or minimally verbal autism (nvASD) are primarily characterized by a severe speech production deficit, with speech limited to no or only a few words by school age. Significant unclarity remains over variability in language profiles across the lifespan, the nature of the language impairment seen, and (dis-) associations between linguistic and nonverbal cognitive measures. Methods To address these questions, we recruited both a school-age and an adult group with nvASD (total N = 49) and investigated relations between expressive and receptive language, and between these and nonverbal intelligence quotient (NVIQ) and sense-making capacities (the ComFor test). Results Results revealed limited variation across this sample in receptive language, which in turn predicted expressive language levels. Importantly, an upward trend in verbal mental age (VMA) across increasing chronological age was seen in the youngsters (only). A radical dissociation between NVIQ and both expressive and receptive language transpired as well, and a subset of individuals with normal NVIQ were comparable in terms of any other cognitive aspect. Sense-making reached symbolic levels in 62.2% of the sample and loaded on both verbal and nonverbal factors. Conclusions These patterns inform theories of nvASD by revealing an impairment that is not conceptualizable as one of expressive language only, sharply limits learning opportunities across the lifespan, and cannot be compensated for by nonverbal cognition. Implications These findings stress the need to seize developmental opportunities that may disappear when youngsters turn into adults, via therapies that specifically target language as a central cognitive system comprising both production and comprehension.https://doi.org/10.1177/23969415211053264 |
| spellingShingle | Dominika Slušná Andrea Rodríguez Berta Salvadó Agustín Vicente Wolfram Hinzen Relations between language, non-verbal cognition, and conceptualization in non- or minimally verbal individuals with ASD across the lifespan Autism and Developmental Language Impairments |
| title | Relations between language, non-verbal cognition, and conceptualization in non- or minimally verbal individuals with ASD across the lifespan |
| title_full | Relations between language, non-verbal cognition, and conceptualization in non- or minimally verbal individuals with ASD across the lifespan |
| title_fullStr | Relations between language, non-verbal cognition, and conceptualization in non- or minimally verbal individuals with ASD across the lifespan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Relations between language, non-verbal cognition, and conceptualization in non- or minimally verbal individuals with ASD across the lifespan |
| title_short | Relations between language, non-verbal cognition, and conceptualization in non- or minimally verbal individuals with ASD across the lifespan |
| title_sort | relations between language non verbal cognition and conceptualization in non or minimally verbal individuals with asd across the lifespan |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/23969415211053264 |
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