Abstract
This study examined verbal mediation during planning in school-age children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) relative to age- and nonverbal IQ- matched typically developing peers using a dual-task paradigm. Analyses showed no group differences in performance. However, in the condition intended to disrupt verbal mediation, language skills were associated with planning performance for the TD group, but not the ASD group. Upon examining ASD subgroups with versus without comorbid structural language impairment, children with ASD and normal language appeared to rely on verbal mediation to a greater degree than children with ASD and language impairment, but to a lesser degree than TD peers. Thus, the role of verbal mediation in planning for children with ASD differs depending on language status.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all of the families who participated in this study as well as the school personnel who generously aided in participant recruitment. We are grateful to the members of the Language Processes Lab and Language Acquisition and Bilingualism Lab for their assistance with participant recruitment, data collection, and data coding.
Funding
This research was supported by NIH Grants R01 DC011750 (Ellis Weismer & Kaushanskaya, MPIs), T32 DC005359 (Ellis Weismer, PI), and U54 HD03352 core grant to the Waisman Center.
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Larson, C., Gangopadhyay, I., Prescott, K. et al. Planning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Role of Verbal Mediation. J Autism Dev Disord 51, 2200–2217 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04639-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04639-5