Communicative Repair Skills in Boys with Autism and Fragile X Syndrome (2010)
Undergraduate: Ramsey Cardwell
Faculty Advisor: Gary Martin
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience
Introduction: Evidence exists that individuals with autism have difficulty repairing communicative breakdowns (Geller, 1998; Volden, 2004). Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common known genetic cause of autism, but comparisons between children with autism and FXS on repair skills are lacking. This study examined repair skills of boys with autism and boys with FXS to identify potential similarities.
Methods: A communicative repair task was given to boys with autism only (n=11), FXS with autism (FXS-A; n=12), FXS only (FXS-O; n=15) and controls (n=11). At predetermined times the examiner initiated a sequence of neutral requests for clarification (RQCL) using procedures from Brinton et al. (1986). Responses were coded for repair strategy.
Results: We controlled for nonverbal mental age and expressive vocabulary. Boys with FXS-A added information more often than boys with autism only (51% vs. 43%). Results also revealed similarities across groups. For all, addition and repetition were the most common strategies, strategies were varied as the breakdown persisted, and boys were more likely to respond inappropriately or not at all to later RQCL.
Conclusions: The results suggest repair ability may be a relative strength for boys with autism and boys with FXS. Also interlocutors should limit neutral RQCL, since repeated requests may elicit inappropriate responses.
Funding: NICHD (2 R01 HD038819-07, 1 R01 HD044935-06A1), March of Dimes, & Ireland Family Foundation