Metaphor comprehension and production in verbally able children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Developmental Psychology
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Background:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is associated with difficulties in figurative language, particularly metaphor comprehension.
• Limited research exists on metaphor production skills in individuals with ASD.
• The underlying causes of metaphor processing deficits in ASD, including language and cognitive factors, are debated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate metaphor comprehension and production in verbally able children with ASD.
• To explore the role of expressive vocabulary, working memory, and fluid intelligence in metaphor processing in ASD.
• To compare metaphor processing abilities and underlying skills between children with ASD and typically developing (TD) controls.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 18 Greek-speaking children with ASD and 31 TD children.
• Metaphor comprehension assessed via a sentence-picture matching task for conventional predicate metaphors.
• Metaphor production evaluated using a sentence continuation task.
• Cognitive assessments included fluid intelligence, expressive vocabulary, and working memory measures.

Main Results:

• The ASD group performed significantly lower than the TD group in both metaphor comprehension and production.
• Expressive vocabulary was a key factor in metaphor performance for children with ASD.
• Working memory correlated with metaphor comprehension in the ASD group, but not in the TD group.
• Children with ASD produced more inappropriate or no responses in the metaphor production task.

Conclusions:

• Children with ASD exhibit difficulties in both understanding and generating metaphorical language.
• Expressive vocabulary and working memory play crucial roles in metaphor processing for children with ASD.
• Typically developing children may utilize different cognitive strategies for metaphor processing compared to children with ASD.