Acoustic analysis of speech intonation pattern of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

This study aimed to analyze prosodic elements of speech segments of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and compare with the control group, using an acoustic analysis.

Speech recordings were performed with a sample of individuals with ASD (n = 19) and with typical development (n = 19) of the male gender, age range: 8-33 years. The prosody questionnaire ALIB (Brazilian Linguistic Atlas) was used as script, which contains interrogative, affirmative and imperative sentences. Data were analyzed using the PRAAT software and forwarded to statistical analysis in order to verify possible significant differences between the two groups studied in each prosodic parameter evaluated (fundamental frequency, intensity and duration) and its respective variables.

There were significant differences for the variables tessitura, melodic amplitude of tonic vowel, melodic amplitude of pretonic vowel, maximum intensity, minimum intensity, tonic vowel duration, pretonic vowel duration and phrase duration.

Individuals with ASD present significant differences in prosody compared to those with typical development. It is noteworthy, however, the necessity of additional studies on the characterization of prosodic aspects of speech of individuals with ASD with a larger sample and a more restricted age group.