Multisensory speech perception in children with autism spectrum disorders

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Auditory and Visual Perception

Background:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by social communication deficits and restricted, repetitive behaviors.
• Individuals with ASD often exhibit atypical sensory processing, which may influence speech perception.
• Understanding speech perception in ASD is crucial for addressing communication challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate unisensory and multisensory speech perception in children with ASD compared to typically developing controls.
• To explore the relationship between speech perception abilities and broader behavioral characteristics in ASD.

Main Methods:

• Participants included children aged 8-17 with ASD and age-, sex-, and IQ-matched typically developing controls.
• Speech perception was assessed using consonant-vowel syllables in visual-only, auditory-only, matched audiovisual, and mismatched audiovisual (McGurk) conditions.
• Correlational analyses examined links between multisensory speech perception, communication, and sensory responses.

Main Results:

• Children with ASD demonstrated deficits in visual-only and matched audiovisual speech perception.
• Participants with ASD showed a prolonged visual influence on auditory speech perception in the mismatched audiovisual condition.
• Speech perception in ASD was associated with communicative characteristics and sensory response patterns.

Conclusions:

• Atypical speech perception, particularly in multisensory integration, is present in children with ASD.
• These perceptual differences are linked to broader behavioral and sensory characteristics observed in ASD.
• Findings highlight the importance of considering sensory processing in the context of ASD and communication development.