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Language Abilities of Children with Asperger Syndrome

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Abstract

Current diagnostic taxonomies (ICD-10, DSM-IV) emphasize normal acquisition of language in Asperger syndrome (AS). Although many linguistic sub-skills may be fairly normal in AS there are also contradictory findings. There are only few studies examining language skills of children with AS in detail. The aim of this study was to study language performance in children with AS and their age, sex and IQ matched controls. Children with AS had significantly lower scores in the subtest of Comprehension of Instructions. Results showed that although many linguistic skills may develop normally, comprehension of language may be affected in children with AS. The results suggest that receptive language processes should be studied in detail in children with AS.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank all the children and their parents for participating in this study. We also thank psychology student Marjaana Saarivuo for performing the WISC-III on the control children. We would also like to thank Professor Marit Korkman for valuable comments. The research was supported by the Arvo and Lea Ylppö Foundation, Finland, and the Finnish-Swedish doctor association, Finland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Satu Saalasti, Tuulia Lepistö, Teija Kujala & Eira Jansson-Verkasalo

  2. Department of Child Neurology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

    Satu Saalasti, Tuulia Lepistö & Lennart von Wendt

  3. Department of Speech Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 9, Helsinki, 00014, Finland

    Satu Saalasti & Minna Laakso

  4. Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland

    Esko Toppila

  5. Department of Adolescent Psychiatry, Jorvi Hospital, Espoo, Finland

    Taina Nieminen-von Wendt

  6. Medical Centre Dextra, Helsinki, Finland

    Taina Nieminen-von Wendt

  7. Faculty of Humanities, Logopedics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Eira Jansson-Verkasalo

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  1. Satu Saalasti
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Correspondence to Satu Saalasti.

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Saalasti, S., Lepistö, T., Toppila, E. et al. Language Abilities of Children with Asperger Syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 38, 1574–1580 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-008-0540-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-008-0540-3

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