Communicative competence in parents of children with autism and parents of children with specific language impairment

Tilla F RUSER; Deborah ARIN; Michael DOWD; Sara PUTNAM; Brian WINKLOSKY; Beth ROSEN-SHEIDLEY; Joseph PIVEN; Bruce TOMBLIN; Helen TAGER-FLUSBERG; Susan FOLSTEIN

doi:10.1007/s10803-006-0274-z

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Communicative competence in parents of children with autism and parents of children with specific language impairment

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Communicative competence in parents of children with autism and parents of children with specific language impairment

Tilla F RUSER, Deborah ARIN, Michael DOWD, Sara PUTNAM, Brian WINKLOSKY, Beth ROSEN-SHEIDLEY, Joseph PIVEN, Bruce TOMBLIN, Helen TAGER-FLUSBERG and Susan FOLSTEIN

Journal of autism and developmental disorders, Vol.37(7), pp.1323-1336

2007

DOI: 10.1007/s10803-006-0274-z

PMID: 17180460

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Abstract

While the primary language deficit in autism has been thought to be pragmatic, and in specific language impairment (SLI) structural, recent research suggests phenomenological and possibly genetic overlap between the two syndromes. To compare communicative competence in parents of children with autism, SLI, and down syndrome (DS), we used a modified pragmatic rating scale (PRS-M). Videotapes of conversational interviews with 47 autism, 47 SLI, and 21 DS parents were scored blind to group membership. Autism and SLI parents had significantly lower communication abilities than DS parents. Fifteen percent of the autism and SLI parents showed severe deficits. Our results suggest that impaired communication is part of the broader autism phenotype and a broader SLI phenotype, especially among male family members.

Family environment. Family history

Biological and medical sciences

Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry

Medical sciences

Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry

Psychopathology. Psychiatry

Details

Title: Subtitle: Communicative competence in parents of children with autism and parents of children with specific language impairment
Creators: Tilla F RUSER - Department of Psychiatry, The Institute of Living, 200 Retreat Ave, Hartford, CT 06106, United States
Deborah ARIN - Department of Psychiatry, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States
Michael DOWD - Department of Psychiatry, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States
Sara PUTNAM - Department of Psychiatry, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States
Brian WINKLOSKY - Department of Psychiatry, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States
Beth ROSEN-SHEIDLEY - Department of Psychiatry, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States
Joseph PIVEN - Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
Bruce TOMBLIN - Department of Speech Pathology, University of Iowa, Iowa, IA, United States
Helen TAGER-FLUSBERG - Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States
Susan FOLSTEIN - Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of autism and developmental disorders, Vol.37(7), pp.1323-1336
Publisher: Springer; Heidelberg
DOI: 10.1007/s10803-006-0274-z
PMID: 17180460
ISSN: 0162-3257
eISSN: 1573-3432
Language: English
Date published: 2007
Academic Unit: Communication Sciences and Disorders; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984070220202771

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