An Acoustic Analysis of Speech Motor Performance in Autistic Children

Area of Science:

• Speech-language pathology
• Developmental neuroscience
• Pediatric audiology

Background:

• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with known motor and spoken language impairments.
• The specific motor skills for speech production and their link to language in ASD remain under-investigated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate speech motor skills in autistic children.
• To examine the relationship between speech motor function and language abilities in autism spectrum disorder.

Main Methods:

• Audio-recorded speech samples from 39 autistic children (14 minimally verbal, 25 verbal) and 11 non-autistic children (ages 4-7).
• Acoustic analysis of speech precision, coordination, and consistency.
• Correlational analysis between acoustic speech features and language measures.

Main Results:

• Autistic children, particularly the minimally verbal group, exhibited significant differences in speech precision, coordination, and consistency compared to verbal autistic and non-autistic children.
• Significant correlations were found between acoustic speech features and both expressive and receptive language measures across all autistic children.

Conclusions:

• Findings establish initial acoustic-based speech motor profiles for autism spectrum disorder.
• Oromotor function measures may aid in early identification and prediction of language outcomes in children with ASD.