Language and Communication in Autism

I chose to read this article because it is important for me to know and understand the language development milestones for typically developing children in order to have a clearer comparison of the children with autism that I am working with. The article discusses five language development areas (semantics, syntax, phonology, pragmatics, and play) and the monthly milestones for each. The authors inform the reader that around age two is when parents begin to notice their child's lack of language use, which leads them to usually find that their child has a diagnosis of autism. The article is broken down into two parts... Part 1 refers to the language milestones in typically developing children, while Part 2 discusses discrepancies in language use from children with autism. Table 12.1 shows the developmental language milestones from 12 months to 7 years. 

I found the article to be extremely informative and gave me new insight into early language, as well as reinforced what I already knew. Some facts that I found interesting were:
- The expressive and receptive language of a two year old with autism is equivalent to that of a 9 month old.
- Based on parent reports, about 15% of children with autism lose most of their obtained words between 12 and 18 months old.
- Past tense verb usage is difficult for children with ASD.
- Echolalia is very common amongst early language learners with ASD.
- Confusion with personal pronouns (e.g. Saying, "You ready for this." Instead of "I am ready for this.")
- Abnormal intonation patterns... more monotone voice.

I see most if not all of these traits in all of my clients with ASD that I work with, which I found fascinating! 

Reference: 

Tager-Flusberg, H., Paul, R., & Lord, C. (2005). Language and communication in autism. Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders, 1, 335-364. Retrieved from https://medicine.yale.edu/childstudy/autism/class/339_99903_Chapter%2012%20Language%20and%20communication%20in%20autism.pdf

Link to the article: https://medicine.yale.edu/childstudy/autism/class/339_99903_Chapter%2012%20Language%20and%20communication%20in%20autism.pdf