Quite a few people on the spectrum don't process language as rapidly as their typical peers. As a result, they may take longer to make sense of a statement, craft an appropriate response, and then say what's on their mind. Most conversations move rapidly, and thus people on the spectrum are often left behind.
When children with autism speak they sound different from most people. Their speech usually follows one of several characteristic patterns: Some talk in a flat, toneless voice, others in an exaggerated, hyper way that doesn't match the subject matter.
Unusual speech.
Children with autism spectrum disorder have good vocabularies but unusual ways of expressing themselves. They may talk in a monotone voice and do not recognize the need to control the volume of their voice, speaking loudly in libraries or movie theaters, for example.
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who can speak often exhibit abnormal voice quality and speech prosody, but the exact nature and underlying mechanisms of these abnormalities, as well as their diagnostic power are currently unknown.
Repetitive and restricted behaviors in autism can vary radically from person to person. For some, it involves saying or talking about the same things over and over again.
Many autistic people get very stuck in loops of rumination and uncertainty, and the feeling of going round and round, the anxiety and worry, can be really unbearable. I call this 'loops of concern'.
It's a common misconception that autistic people are unaware of their condition. The truth is, many autistic people are very much aware of their autism and how it affects them. In fact, some say that it's through understanding and acceptance of their autism that they've been able to lead fulfilling lives.
Non-autistic people tend to assess concepts before details, also known as top-down thinking. Autistic people take the opposite approach with bottom-up thinking and use details to build concepts. It may take longer to filter out sensory details with this approach, but you're less likely to miss important information.
Speech pattern is marked by a lack of rhythm, odd inflection or monotone pitch. Isolation from social settings due to poor social skills and limited interests. Impaired ability to use or understand non-verbal behavior such as eye gaze, facial expressions or body language.
Facial expressions smooth social interactions: A smile may show interest, a frown empathy. People with autism have difficulty making appropriate facial expressions at the right times, according to an analysis of 39 studies1. Instead, they may remain expressionless or produce looks that are difficult to interpret.
That's because spoken language involves more than the use of words; we vary our pitch, loudness, tempo, and rhythm in our speech in order to convey different meanings. These changes are called "prosody," and people with autism often find prosody difficult to hear, understand, or reproduce.
We autistic people can't always control our voices so we can speak too loudly or softly and use incorrect pitch tone and speed. Talking normally can require a lot of conscious effort.
There are many different factors that have been identified that may make a child more likely to have ASD, including environmental, biologic, and genetic factors.
Cluttering. There is another language problem found in autism that can produce fast, unclear conversation. Cluttering is when someone talks rapidly, with syllables that run together, excessive filler words and repetitions, and abnormal pauses. It often occurs alongside stuttering, though it's less well-known.
Some believe that autistic people aren't interested in romantic relationships or aren't capable of romantic love. However, this is far from the truth. In fact, autistic people can make wonderful partners.
This is called echolalia. use made-up words. say the same word over and over. confuse pronouns, referring to themselves as 'you' and the person they're talking to as 'I'.
oddities in loudness, pitch, intonation, prosody, and rhythm. unusually pedantic, formal or idiosyncratic speech. use of metaphor meaningful only to the speaker.
excessive repetitions of phrases, revisions of ideas, filler words such as “um” or “uh” excessive over-coarticulation. Sounds in words run together and sounds or syllables may be deleted. For example, “It's like this” may sound like, “slikethi.”
Advances in diagnostic capabilities and greater understanding and awareness of autism spectrum disorder seem to be largely driving the increase, the Rutgers researchers said. But there's probably more to the story: Genetic factors, and perhaps some environmental ones, too, might also be contributing to the trend.
For people on the autism spectrum, the world is a bewildering place. With oversensitive sensory systems, they battle to process the maelstrom of information flowing into their brains. Often the result is sensory overload, leading to signature behaviours such as tantrums, anxiety and social withdrawal.
Though autistic people may respond to emotions and social cues differently than neurotypical people, this does not mean they lack empathy. Just like neurotypical people, levels of empathy vary between autistic individuals.
High-functioning autism means that a person is able to read, write, speak, and handle daily tasks, such as eating and getting dressed independently. Despite having symptoms of autism, their behavior doesn't interfere too much with their work, school, or, relationships.