Paper 3201
Specific Language Impairment and High Functioning Autism: Evidence for Distinct Etiologies and for Modularity of Grammar and Pragmatics
Ava Creemers and Jeannette Schaeffer
1-12 (complete paper or proceedings contents)
Ava Creemers and Jeannette Schaeffer
1-12 (complete paper or proceedings contents)
Abstract
This study investigates whether grammar and pragmatics are separate linguistic components, and whether children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and children with High Functioning Autism (HFA) have similar or distinct etiologies. A group of 27 children with HFA aged 6-14, age and gender matched to 27 children with SLI, and 27 TD controls are tested on the mass-count distinction (grammatical) and the choice for a definite/indefinite article (pragmatic). The results show that pragmatics can be impaired independently from grammar (in HFA) and vice versa (in SLI), providing evidence for domain specificity of grammar and pragmatics, and against shared etiologies for SLI and HFA.
Published in
Proceedings of the 6th Conference on Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition North America (GALANA 2015)
edited by Laurel Perkins, Rachel Dudley, Juliana Gerard, and Kasia Hitczenko
Table of contents
edited by Laurel Perkins, Rachel Dudley, Juliana Gerard, and Kasia Hitczenko
Table of contents