Background and aims: Nongenerative speech is the rote repetition of words or phrases heard from others or oneself. The most common manifestations of nongenerative speech are immediate and delayed echolalia, which are a well-attested clinical feature and a salient aspect of atypical language use in autism. However, there are no current estimates of…

As an information-bearing auditory attribute of sound, pitch plays a crucial role in the perception of speech and music. Studies examining pitch processing in autism spectrum disorder have produced equivocal results. To understand this discrepancy from a mechanistic perspective, we used a novel data-driven method, the reverse-correlation paradigm,…

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate and compare alternative modalities and stimuli used to measure receptive vocabulary skills in autistic children who are minimally verbal. This study systematically compared participants' outcomes on three different receptive vocabulary assessment conditions: a low-tech assessment that used a stimulus…

This pilot placebo-controlled trial (NCT00965068, 07/28/2009) explored effects of cholesterol supplementation on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms in children with abnormally low cholesterol. Fifteen children age 4-12 with ASD and cholesterol <5th percentile for age/sex were randomized to 225 mg cholesterol vs. matched placebo twice daily…

This study compared between the roles of the socio-pragmatic and data-driven aspects of caregiver input in the vocabulary development of both Typically Developing (TD) Children and children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The role of Joint Attention (JA) and Supported Joint Engagement (SJE) episode types, as well as Follow-In (FI) Comments,…