Examining gender effects in autistic written language skills: A small sample exploratory study.

Background and aims: Gender differences in the written language of autistic individuals are an overlooked but important area of research. We contend that the gender differences in spoken language of autistic individuals may extend to written language, mirroring the gender differences of writing in the general population and reflecting the shared dimensionality of oral and written language. Our research question was: Do autistic adolescent females demonstrate written language characteristics, across persuasive, expository, and narrative genres, that are distinct from those of autistic adolescent males and non-autistic (NA) adolescent females? Methods: We performed a secondary, exploratory analysis on writing samples collected from 18 participants (11 autistic males, three autistic females, and four NA females) from a larger investigation of autistic adolescents' writing skills. Each participant completed three writing samples-one persuasive, one expository, and one narrative (for a total of 54 writing samples). We compared sample length (total number of words), writing productivity (words written per minute), syntactic length (mean length of T-unit in words), vocabulary diversity (type-token ratio), and macrostructure of autistic females' samples to autistic males' and NA females' samples. Results: Based on non-parametric analyses using variable medians, autistic males, but not autistic females, wrote significantly shorter expository samples than NA females. Autistic males' writing productivity was significantly lower in the persuasive and expository genres than both autistic females and NA females. Several other comparisons of sample length, productivity, vocabulary diversity, and persuasive and narrative macrostructure yielded large effect sizes but were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Though our small sample sizes prevent us from drawing generalizable conclusions, we observed that some gender-specific findings of the current study differ from previous findings based on a single autistic group (females and males combined). Combining data of autistic females with autistic males may cloud the distinct written language characteristics of each group. Implications: Our findings, especially when situated in the context of relevant literature, suggest that larger-scale investigation of gender differences in written language is essential in order to more fully describe the unique characteristics of autistic females. Clinicians should be prepared to support autistic writers' needs for producing written language to meet their developmental, academic, social, and employment-related goals.

Interprofessional education on autism and intellectual disabilities: Program description and initial evaluation.

Project INTERprofessional Autism Collaborative Training (INTERACT) is an interprofessional education program designed to prepare graduate students in psychology, special education, and speech-language pathology to work with autistic children with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. The rising prevalence of autism, coupled with increased appreciation for interprofessional approaches to service delivery, indicates the need for university training programs to prepare graduate students to work interprofessionally with this population; yet descriptions of such programs and their effectiveness are not reported in the literature. In this article, we explain the process through which an interprofessional faculty team developed Project INTERACT, describe the sequence of coursework and team-based clinical experiences that comprise the program, and present preliminary data regarding its effectiveness. Twenty-four graduate students in psychology, special education, and speech-language pathology participated in this quantitative study. We report results from three rating scales that participants completed at program entry, midpoint, and program exit. Participants endorsed positive attitudes toward interprofessional practice and demonstrated high levels of knowledge about autism. Self-rated knowledge and abilities in interprofessional practice increased significantly by program exit. Project INTERACT scholars developed knowledge and skills related to understanding, assessing, and treating autistic children with intellectual disabilities, through the lens of team-based interprofessional collaboration. We discuss implications for practice with Project INTERACT. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A Preliminary Study of Writing Skills in Adolescents with Autism Across Persuasive, Expository, and Narrative Genres.

Writing is often difficult for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet relatively little literature exists that profiles specific strengths and needs within this area. This preliminary investigation compares the written language skills of adolescents with ASD without intellectual disability (n = 14) to typically developing (TD) adolescents (n = 12). Writing samples from persuasive, expository, and narrative genres were elicited. Variables of sample length, writing productivity, syntax, lexical diversity, and macrostructure were analyzed. In the persuasive and expository genres, the ASD group scored significantly lower than the TD group on sample length and some aspects of macrostructure. The ASD group scored higher than the TD group on lexical diversity in the persuasive genre. Other comparisons yielded large effect sizes but were not statistically significant.

Procedures for Obtaining and Analyzing Writing Samples of School-Age Children and Adolescents.

PURPOSE: Many students' writing skills are below grade-level expectations, and students with oral language difficulties are at particular risk for writing difficulties. Speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') expertise in language applies to both the oral and written modalities, yet evidence suggests that SLPs' confidence regarding writing assessment is low. Writing samples are a clinically useful, criterion-referenced assessment technique that is relevant to helping students satisfy writing-related requirements of the Common Core State Standards (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010a). This article provides recommendations for obtaining and analyzing students' writing samples. METHOD: In this tutorial, the authors provide a comprehensive literature review of methods regarding (a) collection of writing samples from narrative, expository (informational/explanatory), and persuasive (argument) genres; (b) variables of writing performance that are useful to assess; and (c) manual and computer-aided techniques for analyzing writing samples. The authors relate their findings to expectations for writing skills expressed in the Common Core State Standards (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010a). CONCLUSION: SLPs can readily implement many techniques for obtaining and analyzing writing samples. The information in this article provides SLPs with recommendations for the use of writing samples and may help increase SLPs' confidence regarding written language assessment.

Syntactic complexity during conversation of boys with fragile X syndrome and Down syndrome.

PURPOSE: This study compared the syntax of boys who have fragile X syndrome (FXS) with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with that of (a) boys who have Down syndrome (DS) and (b) typically developing (TD) boys. METHOD: Thirty-five boys with FXS only, 36 boys with FXS with ASD, 31 boys with DS, and 46 TD boys participated. Conversational language samples were evaluated for utterance length and syntactic complexity (i.e., Index of Productive Syntax; H. S. Scarborough, 1990). RESULTS: After controlling for nonverbal mental age and maternal education levels, the 2 FXS groups did not differ in utterance length or syntactic complexity. The FXS groups and the DS group produced shorter, less complex utterances overall and less complex noun phrases, verb phrases, and sentence structures than did the TD boys. The FXS with ASD group and the DS group, but not the FXS-only group, produced less complex questions/negations than did the TD group. Compared with the DS group, both FXS groups produced longer, more complex utterances overall, but on the specific complexity measures, they scored higher only on questions/negations. CONCLUSION: Boys with FXS and DS have distinctive language profiles. Although both groups demonstrated syntactic delays, boys with DS showed greater delays.

Expressive language during conversational speech in boys with fragile X syndrome.

We compared the expressive syntax and vocabulary skills of 35 boys with fragile X syndrome and 27 younger typically developing boys who were at similar nonverbal mental levels. During a conversational speech sample, the boys with fragile X syndrome used shorter, less complex utterances and produced fewer different words than did the typically developing boys after controlling for their nonverbal MA, speech intelligibility, and mother's education. The boys with fragile X used less complex noun phrases, verb phrases, and sentence structure, but did not use fewer questions and negations. These findings suggest that the language difficulties in boys with fragile X reflect an overall expressive language delay and not a specific syntactic or vocabulary delay.

Structural development of the fictional narratives of African American preschoolers.

PURPOSE: This study examined the structural development of African American preschoolers' narratives. It also investigated the effect of background variables (e.g., gender, maternal education, stimulation and responsiveness of the home environment, and whether or not the child lived in poverty) on the children's narratives. METHOD: Sixty-five children completed a story-retelling task at age 4 and again at kindergarten entry. Narratives were then coded for story grammar elements. RESULTS: Four-year-olds narrated some attempts to solve the problem and some elements of the story ending. At kindergarten entry, children had higher total narrative scores and included more of every type of story grammar element except relationship. Overall, narratives were not related to background variables. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The Bus Story Language Test (C. Renfrew, 1991) appears to be an assessment tool that is sensitive to structural growth in African American children's narratives from 4 years to kindergarten entry.

Speech and language development in six infants adopted from China.

Children adopted from China currently represent the largest group of newly internationally adopted children in the US. An exploratory investigation of the communicative development of six young females adopted at ages 9 to 17 months from China by US families was conducted. Children were followed longitudinally from approximately three months post-adoption to age three years. English language skills were assessed at approximately three-month intervals, detailed communicative analyses were conducted at six months post-adoption, and outcomes were measured at three years of age. Results indicated wide variability in rates of English language development. Phonological, social-communicative, and lexical bases of communication were intact for each child at six months post-adoption. At age three years, four of the children demonstrated speech and language skills within one standard deviation of standardized test norms, one child demonstrated skills above the normal range, and one child's skills were below the normal range. This study provides evidence of the resiliency of children's language learning abilities.

Phonological skills of children adopted from China: implications for assessment.

Little is known about the acquisition of English phonology by children adopted from China. Data are summarized from three recent studies with a focus on the phonological skills of children adopted from China as infants or toddlers. Two longitudinal studies (combined n = 8) described early phonological behaviors (e.g., babbling, phonetic inventories), and found substantial individual variation. In spite of this variation by 3 years of age, nearly all of the children were performing at a level comparable to nonadopted monolingual English-speaking peers. No clear relationship between the early behaviors and outcome at age 3 was found. The third study provided descriptions of the phonological skills of preschoolers ( n = 25) who had been adopted 2 or more years earlier, and found that only a few had persistent phonological delays. Errors were predominantly common developmental errors frequently observed in nonadopted monolingual English-speaking children. These findings suggest that tests and measures developed for monolingual English-speaking children may be used cautiously with children adopted as infants or toddlers who have been in their permanent homes for 2 or more years. Prior to that time, assessment should focus on independent analyses of phonological behaviors with consideration of the child's chronological age, length of exposure to English, and development in other language domains.