Facing phonological complexity as an autistic adult: An exploratory study

Area of Science:

• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Linguistics
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition.
• While phonological abilities are often considered relatively spared in autism, research indicates significant impairments in some autistic children and adolescents.
• Evidence regarding phonological complexity in autistic adults remains limited, necessitating further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate phonological complexity processing in autistic adults.
• To identify potential factors influencing phonological performance in this population.
• To bridge the knowledge gap concerning lifelong phonological abilities in autism.

Main Methods:

• Assessed phonological abilities in 48 autistic adults (18-56 years) and 50 controls using a Nonword Repetition (NWR) task with varying syllabic complexity (LITMUS-QU-FR-NWR-Adults).
• Administered additional tests for morphosyntax, vocabulary, nonverbal IQ (NVIQ), short-term memory, working memory, and autism severity.
• Analyzed performance to understand variables affecting phonological abilities in autistic adults.

Main Results:

• Autistic adults demonstrated significantly lower global performance and wider variability on the NWR task compared to controls.
• Individual analysis revealed substantial heterogeneity in phonological impairment related to syllabic complexity among autistic adults.
• Phonological proficiency was associated with morphosyntactic skills but not with lexical knowledge, nonverbal cognition, or memory capacity.
• Phonological skills did not correlate with the severity of autism symptoms.

Conclusions:

• This study is a foundational step in characterizing phonological skills in autistic adults.
• Syllabic complexity elicits diverse behavioral responses in autistic individuals with phonological impairments.
• Further research is needed to elucidate the underlying causes of these phonological difficulties in autistic adults.