Reading Comprehension Challenges in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Linguistic Factors and Figurative Language Proficiency.

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Linguistics
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Background:

• Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit challenges in reading comprehension (RC) despite average nonverbal cognitive abilities.
• Significant variability exists in the reading profiles of children with ASD, necessitating further investigation into influencing factors.
• Pragmatic competence, including figurative language, is a key area of interest for understanding RC in ASD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the reading comprehension abilities of upper elementary school children with ASD to typically developing (TD) peers.
• To explore the role of linguistic abilities (receptive vocabulary, morphosyntax, pragmatic competence) and nonlinguistic factors (age, nonverbal cognition) in RC for children with ASD.
• To assess the heterogeneity of RC and linguistic skills within the ASD group.

Main Methods:

• Matched groups of 35 children with ASD and 35 TD controls (mean age 10.7 years) were selected based on age, gender, and nonverbal cognitive ability.
• Participants completed assessments of reading comprehension, structural language skills (receptive vocabulary, morphosyntax), and figurative language competence.
• The ASD group was subgrouped based on RC performance to examine variability.

Main Results:

• Children with ASD demonstrated significantly lower RC, morphosyntactic skills, and figurative language comprehension than TD peers.
• Receptive vocabulary did not differ significantly between the groups.
• For children with ASD, RC was influenced by chronological age, nonverbal cognitive ability, and receptive vocabulary, whereas TD children's RC was predicted by morphosyntax and figurative competence.

Conclusions:

• Children with ASD face significant challenges in text comprehension and language processing (morphosyntax, pragmatics) compared to TD peers.
• Despite comparable receptive vocabulary and nonverbal cognition, distinct text processing strategies may be employed by children with ASD.
• The considerable heterogeneity in RC and linguistic abilities among children with ASD underscores the need for tailored educational assessments and interventions.