Running head: COMMUNICATION & LANGUGE CHARACTERISTICS 1

Communication and Language Characteristics of ASD

Yadira Adame-Lopez

Brandman University: EDUU-575

April 4, 2020
COMMUNICATION & LANGUGE CHARACTERISTICS 2

Communication and Language Characteristics of ASD

The purpose of this paper is to identify the communication and language characteristics

of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is essential that parents, service providers

and, educators that work with individuals with ASD understand first, the communication and

language developmental milestones of typical children. Secondly they need to be able to closely

observe the child to see if they have a deficit or delay in their communication and language

abilities. We will focus on communication and language characteristics that are relevant in

children with ASD. ASD impacts the level of understanding of communication, the range of

verbal and expressive communication, unusual use of language or communication, and unusual

speech patterns of the child (Steinbrenner, et al. 2019). These make it difficult for the child to

effectively communicate.

Students on the spectrum have difficulty understanding receptive communication. That is

that when given a verbal instruction the child would have difficulty following direction. Children

also have difficulty understanding questions addressed to them and will require more time to

process the information before they can give a response. They may also demonstrate difficulties

in understanding abstract/figurative concepts such as idioms, and social language such as

sarcasm and jokes (Pratt, Hopf, & Larriba-Quest, 2017). These are some characteristics of

receptive language.

The range of verbal and expressive communication of individuals with ASD will depend

on their intellectual and social development. Some student will be non-verbal, which means that

they would not be unable to communicate using speech or language and others will have very

limited speaking skills (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute on

Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, 2018). Students that are high functioning will
COMMUNICATION & LANGUGE CHARACTERISTICS 3

demonstrate advance vocabulary in certain areas that are of interest to them and will talk for long

periods of time about their topic of interest.

Another characteristic of ASD is unusual use of language. About 85% of children with

ASD will develop Echolalia (Bright Tots, n.d.). Echolalia is when the child repeats previously

heard language. The initial speech, that is then echoed, may be from another person in the

environment or from a recording. There are two forms of echolalia, immediate or delayed.

Immediate echolalia occurs within second of the initial speech while delayed echolalia occurs

after a longer period of time after the first speech occurred (Neely, et al, 2015). Although

echolalia is a regular part of child development it usually fades away. It can become a red flag if

it continues past the childhood developmental period (Neely, et al, 2015). Idiosyncratic

language/vocabulary is when the individual uses language and word in unusual ways that may be

difficult to understand by the communication partner. The speaker will use familiar word or

phrases in a peculiar manner, but that is meaningful to them (Volden, & Lord, 1991).

The last characteristic for communication and language is unusual speech patterns such

as monotone intonation, dramatic or sing-songy intonation, unusually slow or fast pace of

speech, and odd rhythm of speech (Steinbrenner, et al. 2019). Individuals with a monotonic

intonation will sound like a robot because it does not conveys the speaker’s feeling. Children that

have a dramatic or sing-song intonation sounds happy all the time even if the situation calls for a

different intonation. According to Language and Communication in Autism when children fail to

use and understand intonational signs, then, that will likely affect the emotional tone of a verbal

exchange and also hamper its comprehensibility (Tager-Flusberg, Paul, & Lord, 2005). Deficit in

these areas can prevent the child in having a back-and forth conversation with peers.
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These are some of the communication and language characteristics of ASD. Some

characteristics such as receptive language can be more challenging to identify and can be seen as

non-cooperation from the child. The others are easier to spot because we can observe and keep

track of the behavior. Nevertheless, individuals that provide services to individuals with autism

spectrum disorder need to be familiar with communication and language characteristics in order

to help make an early diagnosis.

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References

Bright Tots (n.d.). Echolalia in Children. Retrieve on April 3, 2020 from

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Neely, L., Gerow, S., Rispoli, M., Lang, R., & Pullen, N. (2015). Treatment of Echolalia in

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Systematic Review. Review Journal of

Autism and Developmental Disorders, 3(1), 82–91. https://doi-

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Pratt, C., Hopf, R., & Larriba-Quest, K. (2017). Characteristics of individuals with an autism

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Steinbrenner, J., Sam, A., Chin, J., Morgan, W., & AFIRM for Paras Team. (2019). Introduction

to ASD. FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina. Retrieved

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Tager-Flusberg, H., Paul, R., & Lord, C. (2005). Language and Communication in Autism.

Retrieved April 5, 2020, from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?

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