[Communication and language: bidirectionality in interventions in children with autism spectrum disorder]

The relations between formal language skills and social skills are altered in a specific way in persons with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) in a dimension that is very different to what occurs in other pathologies that affect the acquisition of such abilities. This should have implications in the models of intervention in the language of children with ASD.

It is argued that with these children reference to 'normal' development is not sufficient: it is necessary to establish alternative models of language acquisition that take into account both the peculiarities of the cognitive, perceptive and social profile of children with ASD and the nature of the compensation mechanisms, whether they are spontaneous or induced.

The development of language skills depends on the aptitudes for social communication, but it seems possible to take advantage of specifically linguistic skills (which are sometimes well preserved in children with ASD) to help improve social skills: this is what is meant by the bidirectionality that exists between language and communication.