title: Language and pragmatic functions in school-age children on the autism spectrum.
abstract: This study examined group differences in language and pragmatic functions across sex-, age- and IQ-matched samples of Asperger syndrome (N = 22), high-functioning autism (N = 11), deficits in attention, motor control and perception (DAMP) (N = 11), and speech and language disorder (SLD) (N = 11) groups. The purpose was to explore possible differentiating features in the fields of vocabulary, comprehension and pragmatics and, in addition, to determine whether Asperger syndrome could be reliably separated from high-functioning autism on these variables. The findings suggest that Asperger syndrome may be associated with higher full-scale and verbal IQ than high-functioning autism; Asperger syndrome may not be associated with better pragmatic skills (as defined in this context) than high-functioning autism; language comprehension may not clearly separate Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism once the effects of very low IQ are partialled out; both DAMP and SLD can be distinctly separated from Asperger syndrome and autism.
authors.affiliation: Göteborg University, Sweden.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ramberg
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ehlers
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nydén
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gillberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D013060:Speech