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Social language use in parents of autistic individuals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

R. Landa ,
J. Piven ,
M. M. Wzorek ,
J. O. Gayle ,
G. A. Chase  and
S. E. Folstein
R. Landa*
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry, Mental Hygiene and Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
J. Piven
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry, Mental Hygiene and Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
M. M. Wzorek
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry, Mental Hygiene and Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
J. O. Gayle
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry, Mental Hygiene and Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
G. A. Chase
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry, Mental Hygiene and Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
S. E. Folstein
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry, Mental Hygiene and Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
*
1 Address for correspondence: Dr Rebecca Landa, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Meyer 2–181, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
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Synopsis

Social language use (pragmatics) in parents of autistic individuals and controls was compared. Autism parents displayed atypical pragmatic behaviours more often than controls. Preliminary factor analysis suggested three parsimonious groupings of pragmatic abnormalities: Disinhibited Social Communication, Awkward/Inadequate Expression, and Odd Verbal Interaction. The pragmatic features observed in some autism parents are milder but conceptually similar to the social language deficits of autism. Possible reasons for familial aggregation of pragmatic language deficits are discussed.

Type
Preliminary Communication
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , February 1992 , pp. 245 - 254
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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