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Language Development & Autism

Difficulty with language is a major trait of autism. The impairment ranges from being completely non-verbal to having an advanced vocabulary but not understanding things like figures of speech and sarcasm.

  1. Speech Delay

    • One of the first signs of autism is often a delay in speech. Children may not begin to speak at about the same time as others their own age, or they may develop speech slowly or sporadically.

    Echolalia

    • People with autism may, in place of conversation, simply repeat what others say, but without assigning any meaning to the words.

    Loss of Language Skills

    • Children with autism may begin to speak normally and then lose their language skills.

    Lack of Context

    • People with autism may say words or phrases that are not relevant to anything that's going on at the time. They often repeat things that they heard in the past or on television.

    Subtle Deficits

    • People with autism may be capable of engaging in conversation but be unable to make eye contact. They may be quite literal, believing, for example, that "in a minute" means in exactly 60 seconds. Sarcasm is lost on them, as are puns and idiomatic expressions.

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