The prosody-language relationship in children with high-functioning autism

Abstract

Abstract In Kanner's original description of autism he noted disordered prosody as a common feature. Despite this, the area has received very little attention in the literature and those studies that have addressed prosody in autism have not addressed its relationship to other aspects of communication. This chapter will give an overview of research in this area to date and summarise the findings of a study designed to investigate the prosody and language skills of 31 children with high functioning autism. Two case studies of children with autism will be used to illustrate the relationship between language and prosody and to emphasise the prosodic impairment present in many children with autism.