This study investigated whether children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) can learn vocabulary from linguistic context. Thirty-five children with ASD (18 with age-appropriate structural language; 17 with language impairment [ALI]) and 29 typically developing peers were taught 20 Science words. Half were presented in linguistic context from…

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been gaining attention, partly as an example of unusual developmental trajectories related to early neurobiological differences. The present investigation addressed the process of learning new words to explore mechanisms of language delay and impairment. The sample included 21 typically developing toddlers…

The acquisition of expressive sign language was studied in four autistic children (ages 10-15 years). Ss were taught expressive sign labels for common objects using a training procedure consisting of prompting, fading, and stimulus totation. The signing of three of the Ss was found to be controlled solely by the visual cues associated with the…