Verbal Expression and Comprehension Deficits in Young Children With Autism

Abstract

Language impairment is a primary characteristic of children with autism; however, findings on the language deficits of these children have been inconclusive, and even less is known about the language profiles of Chinese-speaking children with autism. The present study examined the verbal expression—comprehension abilities of 46 Chinese children at ages 5 to 6. The children with autism were further classified into high- or low-functioning groups based on their nonverbal intelligence. Results showed that 63% of the children with autism demonstrated language impairment. Specifically, 42% were impaired in both verbal expression and comprehension abilities, and 21% demonstrated impaired expression skills. General intelligence did not seem to explain this heterogeneity, as variability was also observed among the high-functioning children with autism. The results also suggested that a test of expressive language is more sensitive than a test of comprehension in differentiating Chinese children with autism from their age-matched counterparts at early childhood.