Reducing skin picking via competing activities

This study examined the outcomes of a competing activities intervention to decrease skin picking exhibited by a 9-year-old student with comorbid diagnoses. Results of an ABCBAB design revealed that the use of student-selected manipulatives resulted in reduced skin picking.

[Lexical outcomes in auditory closure in children with sensorineural hearing loss]

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess the lexical outcomes in auditory closure of children with aided residual hearing.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A total of 37 children (from 4;7 to 8;2 years old) with bilateral (n = 23) or unilateral (n = 14) sensorineural hearing loss (average at frequencies of 0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz >20 to >90 dB in the better ear) of unknown onset (n = 31) were recruited out of the 1994 implemented Gottinger Hor-Sprachregister (Go HSR). Mean age at diagnosis: 72.0 months (SD 9.8; min. 48; max. 88), mean age at hearing aid implementation: 73.0 months (SD 9.4). All children demonstrated an average nonverbal intelligence, and none suffered from major comorbidities. The subtest 'Auditory Closure' of the standardized (compared to normally developing hearing children) German version of the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities was carried out at 3 time points (t1-t3). Mean time interval t1-t3: 20.3 months (SD 4.7). The test raw scores were converted to T scores (mean = 50, SD = 10). The first psychometric examination took place after the ascertainment of the hearing loss (t1). Two follow-ups (t2, t3) were performed at 6- to 9-month time intervals.

RESULTS

On average, the study group exhibited age-appropriate performances at t1 and significantly improved over time. The average performance of bilaterally impaired children increased most notably (t1-t3; p = 0.008). Subgrouped by age at diagnosis < or =73 months (cut-off for split-half comparison), the performances at t3 were statistically significantly different from those of t1 (t1-t3; p = 0.002). A multiple regression analysis demonstrated the effect of the ability of auditory closure at t1 (p < 0.001) and of nonverbal intelligence (p = 0.002) on the outcome measure at t3.

CONCLUSION

Auditory closure is less determined by degree of hearing loss than by the size of the individual vocabulary and the nonverbal intelligence potential.

The grammatical morpheme deficit in moderate hearing impairment

BACKGROUND

Much remains unknown about grammatical morpheme (GM) acquisition by children with moderate hearing impairment (HI) acquiring spoken English.

AIMS

To investigate how moderate HI impacts on the use of GMs in speech and to provide an explanation for the pattern of findings.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

Elicited and spontaneous speech data were collected from children with moderate HI (n = 10; mean age = 7;4 years) and a control group of typically developing children (n = 10; mean age = 3;2 years) with equivalent mean length of utterance (MLU). The data were analysed to determine the use of ten GMs of English. Comparisons were made between the groups for rates of correct GM production, for types and rates of GM errors, and for order of GM accuracy.

OUTCOME & RESULTS

The findings revealed significant differences between the HI group and the control group for correct production of five GMs. The differences were not all in the same direction. The HI group produced possessive -s and plural -s significantly less frequently than the controls (this is not simply explained by the perceptual saliency of -s) and produced progressive -ing, articles and irregular past tense significantly more frequently than the controls. Moreover, the order of GM accuracy for the HI group did not correlate with that observed for the control group. Various factors were analysed in an attempt to explain order of GM accuracy for the HI group (i.e. perceptual saliency, syntactic category, semantics and frequency of GMs in input). Frequency of GMs in input was the most successful explanation for the overall pattern of GM accuracy. Interestingly, the order of GM accuracy for the HI group (acquiring spoken English as a first language) was characteristic of that reported for individuals learning English as a second language. An explanation for the findings is drawn from a factor that connects these different groups of language learners, i.e. limited access to spoken English input.

CONCLUSIONS

It is argued that, because of hearing factors, the children with HI are below a threshold for intake of spoken language input (a threshold easily reached by the controls). Thus, the children with HI are more input-dependent at the point in development studied and as such are more sensitive to input frequency effects. The findings suggest that optimizing or indeed increasing auditory input of GMs may have a positive impact on GM development for children with moderate HI.

Language and Theory of Mind: A Study of Deaf Children

Theory-of-mind (ToM) abilities were studied in 176 deaf children aged 3 years 11 months to 8 years 3 months who use either American Sign Language (ASL) or oral English, with hearing parents or deaf parents. A battery of tasks tapping understanding of false belief and knowledge state and language skills, ASL or English, was given to each child. There was a significant delay on ToM tasks in deaf children of hearing parents, who typically demonstrate language delays, regardless of whether they used spoken English or ASL. In contrast, deaf children from deaf families performed identically to same-aged hearing controls (N=42). Both vocabulary and understanding syntactic complements were significant independent predictors of success on verbal and low-verbal ToM tasks.

Antenatal maternal stress and long-term effects on child neurodevelopment: how and why?

We review a significant body of evidence from independent prospective studies that if a mother is stressed while pregnant, her child is substantially more likely to have emotional or cognitive problems, including an increased risk of attentional deficit/hyperactivity, anxiety, and language delay. These findings are independent of effects due to maternal postnatal depression and anxiety. We still do not know what forms of anxiety or stress are most detrimental, but research suggests that the relationship with the partner can be important in this respect. The magnitude of these effects is clinically significant, as the attributable load of emotional/behavioral problems due to antenatal stress and/or anxiety is approximately 15%. Animal models suggest that activity of the stress-responsive hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and its hormonal end-product cortisol are involved in these effects in both mother and offspring. The fetal environment can be altered if stress in the mother changes her hormonal profile, and in humans, there is a strong correlation between maternal and fetal cortisol levels. However, many problems remain in understanding the mechanisms involved in this interaction. For example, maternal cortisol responses to stress decline over the course of pregnancy, and earlier in pregnancy, the link between maternal and fetal cortisol is less robust. It is possible that the effects of maternal anxiety and stress on the developing fetus and child are moderated by other factors such as a maternal diet (e.g., protein load). It is suggested that extra vigilance or anxiety, readily distracted attention, or a hyper-responsive HPA axis may have been adaptive in a stressful environment during evolution, but exists today at the cost of vulnerability to neurodevelopmental disorders.

Causal sentence production in children with language impairments

BACKGROUND

The production of causal sentences (e.g. The house went on fire because the girl was playing with matches) is a key component of the ability to produce explanations, which in turn is an important aspect of children's developing discourse skills. While informal observations by professionals suggest that children with language impairments often have difficulties in producing (and comprehending) causal sentences, there is a dearth of systematic research evidence on the scope and characteristics of such difficulties.

AIMS

The study reported herein aimed to establish the scope and characteristics of the difficulties that children with language impairments have with causal sentence production. In particular, it investigated whether they have difficulties with (1) producing causal connectives (because and so), (2) producing semantically appropriate causal sentences, and (3) coordinating the production of more than one clause.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

The performance of 5-7-year-old children with language impairments (the LI group, n = 30) was compared with that of typically developing chronological age peers (the CA group, n = 30) on four elicited production tasks designed to encourage children to talk about pictures of causally related events. The tasks required the children to answer causal questions, to complete and imitate causal sentences, and to produce full causal sentences.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

Although the groups did not differ in the overall frequency with which they used causal connectives, the LI group produced fewer causal connectives than the CA group on tasks involving higher processing demands, as well as producing a lower percentage of semantically appropriate responses on most tasks. The LI group found imitating causal sentences more difficult than answering causal questions and completing causal sentences, whereas the CA group showed a similar level of performance across these three tasks.

CONCLUSIONS

Although 5-7-year-old children with language impairments have causal expressions in their repertoire, they have marked and extensive problems in using these expressions appropriately and in producing full causal sentences even when these are modelled for them. Given the educational importance of explanation, there is a clear need for interventions to target both the semantic appropriateness of causal sentence production and the frequency of use of causal connectives, especially in contexts where children have to cope with the additional processing demands associated with producing two-clause sentences and/or with producing causal sentences autonomously.

Maternal self-efficacy and maternal perception of child language competence in pre-school children with a communication disability

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to describe maternal self-efficacy beliefs within the parenting domain and maternal ratings of pre-school children's language abilities, where the child has a communication disability. The association between these two constructs was also investigated.

METHOD

Twenty-five mothers completed a questionnaire consisting of two subsections: parental self-efficacy and maternal rating of child language ability. Convenience sampling was used, and mothers with children attending four special-education schools in the Pretoria area consented to participate in the study.

RESULTS

The results revealed that mothers generally had high self-efficacy beliefs within certain parenting roles, in spite of the fact that their child has a communication disability. The lowest competence was reported in discipline and teaching roles. In addition, mothers' reports of patterns of child ability correlated with what has been written in the literature. Correlation statistics generally revealed weak association between the constructs, with the strongest association between the parental domain of discipline and maternal reports of their child's receptive language abilities.

CONCLUSIONS

Possible reasons for the weak correlation values are proposed. These include factors that may alter the way parents of children with disabilities construct and maintain self-efficacy beliefs; as well as the fact that the two sections of the questionnaire measure maternal appraisals at two very different levels (objective observations and evaluative self-regulatory processes).

Parental Sensitivity and Attachment in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Comparison With Children With Mental Retardation, With Language Delays, and With Typical Development

This study on sensitivity and attachment included 55 toddlers and their parents. Samples included children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), mental retardation, language delay, and typical development. Children were diagnosed at 4 years of age. Two years before diagnosis, attachment was assessed with the Strange Situation procedure, and parental sensitivity and child involvement during free play were assessed with the Emotional Availability Scale. Parents of children with ASD were equally sensitive as parents of children without ASD, but their children showed more attachment disorganization and less child involvement. More sensitive parents had more secure children, but only in the group without ASD. Less severe autistic symptoms in the social domain predicted more attachment security. Autism challenges the validity of attachment theory.

[Somatic complaints in mothers of children with developmental language disorders]

BACKGROUND

In preliminary studies of mothers of children with developmental language disorders it was found that the mothers' quality of life was diminished and that they suffered from increased emotional disorders. Studies have shown that women with emotional problems also experience increased somatic afflictions. This phenomenon has not yet been confirmed in the context of mothers of children with developmental language disorders.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Ninety mothers (aged 21-48 years) of 90 preschoolers diagnosed with a developmental language disorder, but otherwise of normal development, were questioned using the Giessen Complaint Questionnaire (Giessener Beschwerdebogen, GBB), to assess their level of somatic complaints. The multivariate statistical method used was the regression analysis.

RESULTS

In comparison to women of the same age in the normal population, the mothers in this study had significantly more somatic symptoms. This was shown to be true even for those mothers who, though specifically asked, could not name any particular illness. In mothers of children being treated for developmental language disorders, psychosomatic complaints occurred more frequently. The same result can be observed in mothers who perceived a lack of adequate support in caring for their children as opposed to those who perceived support to be adequate.

CONCLUSIONS

Physicians and health workers treating children with developmental language disorders must reckon with a considerable number of mothers with somatic complaints. As these complaints often occur without any specific illness, they must be considered psychosomatic in nature. These findings are in accordance with earlier studies looking at the relationship between specific emotional disorders and diminished quality of life of those affected. Specific channels of help include utilization of self-help groups or mothers' groups, educational enhancement programs and speech therapists.

Explanatory style and college students with ADHD and LD

OBJECTIVE

This study uses the Attribution Style Questionnaire (ASQ) to measure the causal thinking of 42 college students with diagnosed language-based learning disabilities (LD), ADHD, or co-occurring ADHD and LD. Attribution style, or explanatory style, is a term used to describe the tendencies of individuals to think that the causes of meaningful events are internal or external, global or specific, and stable or unstable.

METHOD

No significant differences in explanatory styles are found among the three subgroups. The study also investigates whether there is a relationship between explanatory style and grades.

RESULTS

Significant positive correlations are found between ASQ scores and grade point averages for the subgroup with co-occurring ADHD and LD and for the three subgroups combined.

CONCLUSION

These findings are significant because they continue to clarify factors related to the postsecondary success of students with LD and attention deficit disorders.

Reduced language abilities in adolescents who snore

Polysomnographic assessment of 20 adolescents who were referred to hospital for loud and frequent snoring showed they suffered from obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Their apneas and desaturation rates (SaO(2)) were abnormal in comparison with the non-snoring adolescents, who served as their controls. The snoring group obtained lower scores on phonemic and semantic tests and had lower marks in the Greek language subject at school than the non-snoring group. These findings could be explained by the fact that OSAS causes certain physiological disturbances which may lead to dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex which plays an active role in language and verbal skills.

Lexical knowledge and lexical use in autism

One aspect of autistic language that has been infrequently researched is vocabulary and the conceptual knowledge underpinning individual words or word types. In this descriptive study we investigate anomalous vocabulary use in a 70,000-word corpus of conversational autistic language and examine evidence that concept formation, and hence vocabulary, is abnormal in autism. Particular attention is paid to the expression of artifact and temporal concepts which some believe may develop abnormally in autism. Little evidence is found of anomalous use of artifact terms, though errors with temporal (and also spatial) expressions are relatively common. We discuss why this may be and consider several potential explanations for why underlying lexical knowledge in autism may not necessarily be reflected in lexical use.

Focused stimulation for a child with autism spectrum disorder: a treatment study

This study explored the use of focused stimulation as an intervention technique for a three-year-old boy diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). His parents were trained to use focused stimulation to facilitate comprehension of what is x doing question forms. Responses to question probes were collected at both pre- and post-treatment intervals. At the beginning of the study, the child did not respond correctly to any of the target questions. Following intervention, the child made significant gains towards the target goal, but little change towards a control goal used for comparison. These findings provide preliminary support for the usefulness of focused stimulation as an intervention strategy for at least some children with ASD.

Subtyping stuttering II: contributions from language and temperament

This paper is the second in a series of two articles exploring subtypes of stuttering, and it addresses the question of whether and how language ability and temperament variables may be relevant to the study of subtypes within the larger population of children who stutter. Despite observations of varied profiles among young children who stutter, efforts to identify and characterize subtypes of stuttering have had limited influence on theoretical or clinical understanding of the disorder. This manuscript briefly highlights research on language and temperament in young children who stutter, and considers whether the results can provide guidance for efforts to more effectively investigate and elucidate subtypes in childhood stuttering. Issues from the literature that appear relevant to research on stuttering subtypes include: (a) the question of whether stuttering is best characterized as categorical or continuous; (b) interpretation of individual differences in skills and profiles; and (c) the fact that, during the preschool years, the interaction among domains such as language and temperament are changing very rapidly, resulting in large differences in developmental profiles within relatively brief chronological age periods.

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

The reader will be able to: (1) discuss possible associations of language ability and temperament to the development of stuttering in young children; (2) summarize the subtyping research from the literature on language ability and temperament in young children; (3) generate directions for future research of stuttering subtypes drawn from the literature related to language ability and temperament in young children.

Receptive Vocabulary, Expressive Vocabulary, and Speech Production of Boys With Fragile X Syndrome in Comparison to Boys With Down Syndrome

Boys with fragile X syndrome with (n = 49) and without (n = 33) characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, boys with Down syndrome (39), and typically developing boys (n = 41) were compared on standardized measures of receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary, and speech administered annually over 4 years. Three major findings emerged. Boys with fragile X without autism spectrum disorder did not differ from the younger typically developing boys in receptive and expressive vocabulary and speech production when compared at similar levels of nonverbal cognitive skills. Boys with fragile X without autism spectrum disorder and typically developing boys had higher receptive vocabulary and speech production than did boys with Down syndrome. There were mixed patterns of results for the boys with fragile X and characteristics of autism spectrum disorder.

Risk factors for psychiatric disturbance in children with intellectual disability

BACKGROUND

Children with intellectual disability (ID) have a higher risk for psychiatric disturbance than their peers with normal intelligence, but research data on risk factors are insufficient and partially conflicting.

METHOD

The subjects comprised 75 children with ID aged 6-13 years. Data were obtained from case files and the following four questionnaires completed by their parents or other carers: Developmental Behaviour Checklist, American Association of Mental Deficiency (AAMD) Adaptive Behavior Scale, a questionnaire on additional disabilities, and a questionnaire on family characteristics and child development.

RESULTS

The risk of psychopathology was most significantly increased by moderate ID, limitations in adaptive behaviour, impaired language development, poor socialization, living with one biological parent, and low socio-economic status of the family.

CONCLUSIONS

The risk of psychopathology in children with ID is increased by factors related to family characteristics and child development. Identifying these factors will help diagnose and possibly prevent psychiatric disorders in these children.

Non-word repetition in Spanish-speaking children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI)

BACKGROUND

A number of previous studies have revealed that children with Specific Language Impairment have limitations in Phonological Working Memory as revealed by a task that requires them to repeat non-words of increasing syllable length. However, most published studies have used non-words that are phonotactically English.

AIMS

The purpose was to examine the repetition of non-words that are consistent with the phonotactic patterns of Spanish. The study also examined the relationship between non-word repetition performance and other language measures.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

Eleven Spanish-speaking children with Specific Language Impairment and 11 age-matched children with typical language development aged 8;3-10;11, who were part of a larger study of sentence processing, participated in the study. The primary data were the children's repetition of 20 non-words, four at each syllable length (one, two, three, four and five syllables). The children's productions were transcribed and scored for non-word, segmental and cluster accuracy as well as for error type.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

The children with Specific Language Impairment performed more poorly on almost all measures of accuracy, but particularly in their production of three-, four-, and five-syllable non-words. Substitutions were the most frequent error type for both groups. Likelihood ratios indicated that non-word repetition performance is a highly accurate identifier of language status in these preselected groups. The children's non-word repetition was highly correlated with most of the standardized language measures that were administered to the children.

CONCLUSIONS

The repetition of non-words consistent with Spanish phonotactics reveals word-length effects and error patterns similar to those found in previous studies. It extends these findings to older school-age Spanish-speaking children with Specific Language Impairment. Given the limited choices for instruments that can be used to identify children with Specific Language Impairment, a Spanish Non-word Repetition Task has the potential to be a valuable screening test for clinical and research purposes.

Factor analysis of the aberrant behavior checklist in individuals with autism spectrum disorders

Exploratory factor analysis (varimax and promax rotations) of the aberrant behavior checklist-community version (ABC) in 275 individuals with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) identified four- and five-factor solutions which accounted for >70% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analysis (Lisrel 8.7) revealed indices of moderate fit for the five-factor solution. Our results suggest that the factor structure of the ABC is robust within an ASD sample. Both solutions yielded a three items self-injury factor. Stratifying on this factor, we identified significant differences between the high- and low-self injury groups on ABC subscales. The emergence of a self-injury factor, while not suggestive of a new subscale, warrants further exploration as a tool that could help dissect relevant neurobiobehavioral groups in ASD.

The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule: Revised Algorithms for Improved Diagnostic Validity

Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) Modules 1-3 item and domain total distributions were reviewed for 1,630 assessments of children aged 14 months to 16 years with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or with heterogeneous non-spectrum disorders. Children were divided by language level and age to yield more homogeneous cells. Items were chosen that best differentiated between diagnoses and were arranged into domains on the basis of multi-factor item-response analysis. Reflecting recent research, the revised algorithm now consists of two new domains, Social Affect and Restricted, Repetitive Behaviors (RRB), combined to one score to which thresholds are applied, resulting in generally improved predictive value.

Effects of circumscribed interests on the social behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorders

This study compared the effects of circumscribed interests (CI) to less preferred (LP) tangible stimuli on the social behaviors of three children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Based on single subject design methodology, the CI experimental sessions resulted in longer durations of target-child initiated social interactions in comparison to LP sessions. In addition, latency of participant's initial social bids to peers was decreased when CI were present. The results suggest that embedding CI into dyadic play situations with typical peers can be used to increase the social behavior children with ASD direct toward typical peers. Future research should examine the specific environmental conditions that must be present in naturalistic settings to facilitate generalization of social behavior.

Social and Communication Abilities and Disabilities in Higher Functioning Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Vineland and the ADOS

The relationship between adaptive functioning (ability) and autism symptomatology (disability) remains unclear, especially for higher functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study investigates ability and disability using the Vineland and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), respectively, in two clinical samples of children with ASD. Participants included 187 males with VIQ > 70. Vineland scores were substantially below VIQ, highlighting the magnitude of adaptive impairments despite cognitive potential. A weak relationship was found between ability and disability. Negative relationships were found between age and Vineland scores and no relationships were found between age and ADOS scores. Positive relationships were found between IQ and Vineland Communication. Results stress the need for longitudinal studies on ability and disability in ASD and emphasize the importance of adaptive skills intervention.

Análise pragmática das respostas de crianças com e sem distúrbio específico de linguagem

TEMA: a partir dos dois anos de idade a criança passa a diferenciar perguntas de não perguntas e também passa a ajustar suas repostas. Esta participação nas trocas verbais requer habilidades conversacionais básicas, como capacidade para iniciar e interagir e para responder apropriadamente e manter a interação. OBJETIVO: analisar e correlacionar os aspectos pragmáticos da linguagem, referentes aos tipos de respostas, durante interação adulto/criança, em crianças com desenvolvimento normal de linguagem e naquelas com diagnóstico de Distúrbio Específico de Linguagem (DEL). MÉTODO: participaram 16 crianças com DEL (GP) de três a seis anos e 60 crianças em desenvolvimento normal de linguagem (GC) de três a cinco anos, sendo 20 para cada faixa etária, dez por sexo. A coleta de dados aconteceu em dois dias, com díade comunicativa criança/adulto facilitada por brinquedos. Os dados (fala da criança e do adulto) foram transcritos e analisados e passaram por análise de Índice de Confiança com 93,75% de concordância, depois foram submetidos à análise estatística. RESULTADOS: as respostas foram classificadas em categorias e agrupadas em Repostas Adequadas (RA) e Repostas Inadequadas (RI), sempre de acordo com o contexto comunicativo estabelecido. O GC apresentou média significativamente maior do que o GP para o uso de RA e o GP apresentou média significativamente maior que o GC para o uso de RI. O GC diminuiu o uso de RI com o aumento da idade. O GP manteve o uso de RI com o aumento da idade, inclusive para a faixa etária de seis anos. CONCLUSÃO: foi observado que o aumento da idade salientou as diferenças entre GP e GC. O GP foi menos efetivo na comunicação mantendo ininteligibilidade de fala, ao passo que o GC apresentou habilidades conversacionais mais elaboradas. Porém, novos trabalhos com idades mais avançadas precisam ser realizados para melhor compreensão dessas tendências observadas.

Promoting joint attention in toddlers with autism: a parent-mediated developmental model

Joint attention, a foundational nonverbal social-communicative milestone that fails to develop naturally in autism, was promoted for three toddlers with early-identified autism through a parent-mediated, developmentally grounded, researcher-guided intervention model. A multiple baseline design compared child performance across four phases of intervention: focusing on faces, turn-taking, responding to joint attention, and initiating joint attention. All toddlers improved performance and two showed repeated engagement in joint attention, supporting the effectiveness of developmentally appropriate methods that build on the parent-child relationship. A complementary qualitative analysis explored family challenges, parent resilience, and variables that may have influenced outcomes. Intervention models appropriate for toddlers with autism are needed as improved early identification efforts bring younger children into early intervention services.

Simultaneous treatment of grammatical and speech-comprehensibility deficits in children with Down syndrome

Children with Down syndrome often display speech-comprehensibility and grammatical deficits beyond what would be predicted based upon general mental age. Historically, speech-comprehensibility has often been treated using traditional articulation therapy and oral-motor training so there may be little or no coordination of grammatical and speech-comprehensibility treatment. The purpose of this paper is to provide the rationale for and preliminary evidence in support of integrating speech and grammatical intervention using a type of recast treatment in six children with Down syndrome. Speech-comprehensibility and MLU growth in generalisation sessions occurred in 4/6 and 5/6 participants, respectively. Using multiple baseline design logic, two of these participants showed evidence of treatment effects on speech-comprehensibility and two in MLU in generalisation sessions, respectively. The study constitutes a conservative test of the intervention effects for reasons that are discussed. The theoretical and applied significance of these findings are discussed.

Processing of affective speech prosody is impaired in Asperger syndrome

Many people with the diagnosis of Asperger syndrome (AS) show poorly developed skills in understanding emotional messages. The present study addressed discrimination of speech prosody in children with AS at neurophysiological level. Detection of affective prosody was investigated in one-word utterances as indexed by the N1 and the mismatch negativity (MMN) of auditory event-related potentials (ERPs). Data from fourteen boys with AS were compared with those for thirteen typically developed boys. These results suggest atypical neural responses to affective prosody in children with AS and their fathers, especially over the RH, and that this impairment can already be seen at low-level information processes. Our results provide evidence for familial patterns of abnormal auditory brain reactions to prosodic features of speech.