Syntax And Working Memory In Preschool Children With Autism The Role Of Neurocognitive Processes In Syntactic Development

This research explores the influence of core neurocognitive processes on syntactic development in autism, a developmental disability characterized by language deficits. Syntactic development requires a child to match co-occurrences of words and morphemes and their meanings, a process that requires the integration of multiple, probabilistic cues from linguistic and social, and real- world contexts, and thus may depend on working memory. Paradoxically, the limited short-term verbal memory characteristic of typically developing children may improve their ability to perform this mapping process by heightening the salience of small meaningful units. In contrast, efficient verbal short-term memory paired with limited working memory could impede syntactic learning. The present research explored the hypothesis that such a pattern characterizes autism, and contributes to language delays. Results, which showed that children with autism exhibited syntactic and working memory deficits, but intact short-term memory, were consistent with this hypothesis. Neurocognitive factors including working memory deficits play a significant role in language delays in autism.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

The aim of this thesis was to explore the structural language skills of preschool aged children with autism. Autism is a Pervasive Developmental Disorder defined by impairments in social interaction and communication, and restrictive and repetitive behaviours (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Structural language skills were identified as an important area for investigation as the delay or absence of language development is an important diagnostic and clinical feature of autism. For example, approximately 50% of young people with autism never develop functional language skills (Howlin, 2005; Tager-Flusberg, Paul, & Lord, 2005), and for the 25% to 30% of the population with autism who develop fully fluent language skills (Minshew, Goldstein, & Siegel, 1995), the majority have ongoing difficulties in using their language skills within a social context (Bartak, Rutter, & Cox, 1975; Rice, Warren, & Betz, 2005; Tonge & Rinehart, 2007). In the long term, the development of some functional language by the age of five is one of the strongest predictors of positive outcomes in adulthood (Howlin, 2005; Pierce & Bartolucci, 1977; Rutter, 1978; Tager-Flusberg, 2000). Despite the importance of language development for a child with autism and their families, relatively little is known about the structural language skills of children with autism.The first chapter of this thesis presents a thorough review of the literature on the language skills of children with autism with the aim of identifying areas requiring further investigation. It was found that previous research on the language skills of children with autism has tended to focus on pragmatic deficits and/or functional language skills with relatively fewer studies investigating structural language skills. Research has been particularly lacking in the area of morphology and syntax in autism with the majority of the literature being over 20 years old and thus requiring replication with current diagnostic criteria and assessment tools. Other weaknesses of this literature are the use of inconsistent methodologies, the investigation of a narrow range of linguistic skills, a lack of studies investigating language skills at specific developmental stages, and the exclusion of children with autism with an intellectual disability and/or those with poor expressive language skills, and females with autism. Partly as a result of these limitations, and also due to the heterogeneity of language presentation within the population with autism, we do not yet have a clear description of the profile of structural language skills in autism, and how these skills might relate to other areas of functioning. To address the limitations of the previous literature, the current research aimed to investigate a range of different language skills within a group of preschool aged children with autism and comparison groups of children with specific language impairment, developmental delay without autism, and typically developing children. Children with autism were selected for the study who were both high functioning and had developmental delay. Participants were aged from 3.5 to 6 years. Three studies were conducted which have been presented in chapters 3 to 5 as submitted journal papers.The first study investigated the profile of language strengths and weaknesses in preschool aged children with autism. This included an investigation of whether the language profile which presents in autism is specific and unique to that disorder and whether there are differences in this language profile across gender and intellectual functioning. Participants were 63 children who had high functioning autism (n=17), autism with developmental delay (n=10), developmental delay without autism (n=10), typical development (n=20), and specific language impairment (n=6). They were administered a series of standardised tests of structural language skills. It was found that the group with high functioning autism had a unique profile of language skills compared to the other groups; a relative (but not absolute) strength in expressive vocabulary skills compared to receptive vocabulary skills. This strength was not shared by children with autism with an intellectual disability, and no gender differences in language profiles were found.The second study investigated whether children with autism have atypical development of morphological and syntactic skills, including whether they use rote learning to compensate for impaired morphological processing, and acquire grammatical morphemes in an atypical order. Participants were children who had autism (n=17), developmental delay without autism (n=7), and typically developing children (n=19). Speech samples were obtained from participants during the administration of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, and transcripts were coded using the Index of Productive Syntax and for usage of Brown's (1973) Grammatical Morphemes. Participants were also administered an elicitation task requiring the application of inflections to non-words; the Wugs Task. The main finding of this study was that across both morphological and syntactic skills, children with autism have subskills which are a combination of intact, delayed, and atypical. The third study investigated the relationship between structural and functional language skills, autism symptom severity, adaptive behaviour, and emotional and behavioural problems in preschoolers with autism. Participants were children with autism (n=27), and two comparison groups of children with developmental delay without autism (n=12), and typically developing children (n=20). The participants were administered standardised tests of structural language skills and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. Parents completed the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales and the Developmental Behaviour Checklist. Results indicated that for children with autism, functional language skills were associated with structural language, social and daily living skills, and some behavioural problems, but not autism symptom severity. There was some evidence that structural language skills were associated with social skills for children with autism, but not with daily living skills, emotional and behavioural problems or autism symptom severity. The majority of these associations were not found to be specific to autism. The results of this study suggest that it is important to consider the structural language skills of children with autism, and to develop specific interventions to address difficulties in this area. The discussion chapter discusses the clinical implications and future research directions generated by this research, and the limitations of the research. The findings of these three studies highlighted that preschool aged children with autism have a complex developmental profile of structural language skills with a mixture of intact, delayed and atypical skills. The findings also highlighted that structural language skills develop somewhat separately to the core symptoms of autism and behavioural problems. Collectively these findings suggested that clinicians need to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the structural language skills of children with autism and not make assumptions about their language skills based on behavioural presentation. Furthermore, in order to maximise language development in the preschool years, structural language interventions need to be tailored to the strengths and weaknesses of each individual child with autism. The main limitation of this research was small sample sizes for the lower functioning groups. This limitation was address by combining or removing groups for specific analyses, and higher the need for replication with larger samples where warranted. Future research directions include investigating whether echolalia may create a relative strength in expressive vocabulary skills for children with high functioning autism, and further investigation of the pattern of strengths and weaknesses found in morphology and syntactic skills for preschool aged children with autism. This research has been able to add to our understanding of the nature of structural language skills in preschool aged children with autism and provide information to assist clinicians to maximise language development, thereby optimising outcomes for individuals with autism in their adult years.

Multidisciplinary volume addressing the practicalities of assessment of ineffective communication in the preschool child.

Is normal language acquisition possible in spite of serious intellectual impairment? The answer, it would appear, is positive. This book summarizes and discusses recent evidence in this respect.

Children with typical development utilize social-cognitive skills (e.g., joint attention, imitation) and word learning constraints to quickly learn new words (i.e., fast-map). However, few studies have investigated fast-mapping in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and the effects that social-cognitive skills have on word learning. The objectives of the current study were to examine the following questions: (1) Do preschoolers with ASD and preschoolers with typical development fast-map at similar rates?; (2) Do preschoolers with ASD utilize word learning constraints?; and (3) What is the relationship between joint attention, imitation, and fast-mapping in preschoolers with ASD? Preschoolers with ASD and typical development completed a basic fast-mapping condition (i.e., the ability to link a novel label with a novel object) and 3 conditions measuring the uses of word learning constraints; (1) Mutual Exclusivity - examined the ability to assume that a novel label applies to a novel object; (2) Taxonomic - examined the ability to assume that novel labels extend to objects that are similar in shape; and (3) Whole-Object - examined the ability to assume that novel labels refer to whole objects. Various assessments measured language, joint attention, and imitation skills. Results revealed that children with ASD showed equivalent word learning to children with typical development in the basic fast-mapping condition. This intact word learning occurred despite significantly lower joint attention and imitation skills. However, children with ASD were less effective at using word learning constraints, showing significantly less word learning in these conditions than children with typical development. Further, while increased joint attention was related to performance in the mutual exclusivity and taxonomic constraints for both diagnostic groups, joint attention was only related to performance in the basic fast-mapping condition for children with typical development. Overall, preschoolers with ASD fast-mapped and learned new words in a similar manner to children with typical development, despite impairments in joint attention and imitation. However, children with ASD were less accurate at utilizing word learning constraints. Although research has emphasized the link between social-cognitive skills and language, the current study suggests that children with ASD may be utilizing alternative strategies or skills to increase their vocabulary.

Modern neuroimaging offers tremendous opportunities for gaining insights into normative development and a wide array of developmental neuropsychiatric disorders. Focusing on ontogeny, this text covers basic processes involved in both healthy and atypical maturation, and also addresses the range of neuroimaging techniques most widely used for studying children. This book will enable you to understand normative structural and functional brain maturation and the mechanisms underlying basic developmental processes; become familiar with current knowledge and hypotheses concerning the neural bases of developmental neuropsychiatric disorders; and learn about neuroimaging techniques, including their unique strengths and limitations. Coverage includes normal developmental processes, atypical processing in developmental neuropsychiatric disorders, ethical issues, neuroimaging techniques and their integration with psychopharmacologic and molecular genetic research approaches, and future directions. This comprehensive volume is an essential resource for neurologists, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, pediatricians, and radiologists concerned with normal development and developmental neuropsychiatric disorders.

In recent decades, a growing number of children have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a condition characterized by, among other features, social interaction deficits and language impairment. Yet the precise nature of the disorder’s impact on language development is not well understood, in part because of the language variability among children across the autism spectrum. The contributors to this volume — experts in fields ranging from communication disorders to developmental and clinical psychology to linguistics — use innovative techniques to address two broad questions: Is the variability of language development and use in children with ASD a function of the language, such that some linguistic domains are more vulnerable to ASD than others? Or is the variability a function of the individual, such that some characteristics predispose those with ASD to have varying levels of difficulty with language development and use? Contributors investigate these questions across linguistic levels, from lexical semantics and single-clause syntax, to computationally complex phonology and the syntax-pragmatics interface. Authors address both spoken and written domains within the wider context of language acquisition. This timely and broadly accessible volume will be of interest to a broad range of specialists, including linguists, psychologists, sociologists, behavioral neurologists, and cognitive neuroscientists.

Equipping school and child psychologists, and neuropsychologists with critical information on the role of working memory in learning and achievement, Working Memory and Academic Learning offers guidance on assessment tools, interventions, and current evidence-based best practices. Its specific, step-by-step guidance and hands-on case studies enables you to identify how working memory relates to academic attainment and how to apply this knowledge in professional practice.

This special issue ponders a detailed and contemporary analysis of the theoretical underpinnings of short-term and working memory. Articles focus on short-term memory for phonological, semantic, and spatial material, on executive function and on short-term forgetting. The empirical perspectives include the neuroimaging of short-term memory, short-term memory development and the neuropsychology and neurobiology of memory, in addition to laboratory-based experimental studies. Together, these articles identify significant current models and approaches to short-term and working memory, providing a broad set of perspectives which illustrate the wide impact of working memory on the understanding of human cognition.