Background & Aims: Discourse markers, such as "well" or "like," serve a variety of functions to support conversational reciprocity: filling pauses, aiding word-finding, and modulating turn-taking by holding the conversational floor. Previous research shows that autistic individuals use discourse markers less frequently than…

Background and aims: A substantial minority of autistic individuals score within typical ranges on standard language tests, suggesting that autism does not necessarily affect language acquisition. This idea is reflected in current diagnostic criteria for autism, wherein language impairment is no longer included. However, some work has suggested…

Purpose: Typical speakers tend to adopt words used by their conversational partners. This "lexical alignment" enhances communication by reducing ambiguity and promoting a shared understanding of the topic under discussion. Lexical alignment has been little studied to date in autism spectrum disorder (ASD); furthermore, it has been…

Children typically learn by attending to other people. Autism traits may impact access to social stimuli fundamental to early learning, increasing children's likelihood of a learning disability. Recent reports have highlighted that Autistic children from minority backgrounds have a higher likelihood of co-occurring intellectual disability. This…

Purpose: Autistic boys and boys with co-occurring fragile X syndrome and autism spectrum disorder (FXS + ASD) demonstrate similar pragmatic language difficulties. The Pragmatic Rating Scale--School Age (PRS-SA) captures ecologically valid metrics of pragmatic language impairments in these populations. It is traditionally scored based on the Autism…

Background: Deficits in the ability to use language in social contexts, including storytelling skills, are observed across the autism spectrum. Development in machine-learning approaches may contribute to clinical psychology and psychiatry, given its potential to support decisions concerning the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric conditions…