A Multidimensional Reappraisal of Language in Autism: Insights from a Discourse Analytic Study

Abstract

In this article, we leverage theoretical insights and methodological guidelines of discourse analytic scholarship to re-examine language phenomena typically associated with autism. Through empirical analysis of the verbal behavior of three children with autism, we engage the question of how prototypical features of autistic language—notably pronoun atypicality, pragmatic deficit, and echolalia—might conceal competencies and interactional processes that are largely invisible in mainstream research. Our findings offer a complex picture of children with autism in their use of language to communicate, interact and experience others. Such a picture also deepens our understanding of the interactional underpinnings of autistic children’s speech. Finally, we describe how our findings offer fruitful suggestions for clinical intervention.

Appendix: Transcription Notation

Notational conventions employed in the transcribed excerpts include the following:

.:

The period indicates a falling, or final, intonation contour, not necessarily the end of a sentence

?:

The question mark indicates rising intonation, not necessarily a question

,:

The comma indicates ‘continuing’ intonation, not necessarily a clause boundary

::::

Colons indicate stretching of the preceding sound, proportional to the number of colons

> <:

The combination of ‘more than’ and ‘less than’ symbols indicates that the talk between them is produced noticeably quicker than surrounding talk

< >:

In the reverse order, they indicate that a stretch of talk is markedly slowed or drawn out

=:

Equal sign indicate no break or delay between the words thereby connected

-:

A hyphen after a word or a part of a word indicates a cut-off or self interruption

word:

Underlining indicates some form of stress or emphasis on the underlined item

WOrd:

Upper case indicates loudness

(()):

Double parentheses enclose descriptions of conduct

(word):

When all or part of an utterance is in parentheses, this indicates uncertainty on the transcriber’s part

():

Empty parentheses indicate that something is being said, but no hearing can be achieved

(1.2):

Numbers in parentheses indicate silence in tenths of a second

(.):

A dot in parentheses indicated a ‘micropause’, hearable but not readily measurable; ordinarily less than 2/10 of a second

[:

Separate left square brackets, one above the other on two successive lines with utterances by different speakers indicates a point of overlap onset