Abstract
Approximately 30% of hearing children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) do not acquire
expressive language, and those who do often show impairments related to their social
deficits, using language instrumentally rather than socially, with a poor understanding
of pragmatics and a tendency toward repetitive content. Linguistic abnormalities can
be clinically useful as diagnostic markers of ASD and as targets for intervention.
Studies have begun to document how ASD manifests in children who are deaf for whom
signed languages are the primary means of communication. Though the underlying disorder
is presumed to be the same in children who are deaf and children who hear, the structures
of signed and spoken languages differ in key ways. This article describes similarities
and differences between the signed and spoken language acquisition of children on
the spectrum. Similarities include echolalia, pronoun avoidance, neologisms, and the
existence of minimally verbal children. Possible areas of divergence include pronoun
reversal, palm reversal, and facial grammar.
Keywords
Sign language - autism - language acquisition - echolalia - pronouns
