Attentional Learning Helps Language Acquisition Take Shape for Atypically Developing Children, Not Just Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Koenen et al. (2016) watched how kids learn new object names.

They tested three groups: typically developing kids, kids with developmental delay, and kids with autism.

Each child saw toys that matched either shape or color.

Sometimes the toys were named out loud; sometimes they stayed quiet.

The team wanted to know who would pick new toys by shape alone.

Typical kids used shape no matter what.

Kids with developmental delay or high verbal-mental-age autism only used shape when the toy was named.

Kids with low verbal-mental-age autism never used shape.

In short, naming helps some kids notice shape; others still miss it.

Georgiou (2023) extends these findings.

That study showed weak early brain reactions to speech sounds explain why many autistic kids have lower verbal than non-verbal scores.

Together, the two papers say: attention to speech matters, and when it is weak, word-learning tricks like shape bias may not appear.

Marsack et al. (2017) adds that auditory attention in autism is "leaky"—kids react to sounds from the wrong direction.

This diffuse attention could be why naming cues help only for kids with stronger verbal skills; they can still catch the word even if attention drifts.

Check verbal mental age before you teach new words through shape games.

If it is low, do not wait for the child to discover the rule.

Instead, name every new item clearly and pair the shape with the label.

For higher-verbal kids, naming is still useful but you can fade it faster.

This small shift can save trials and cut frustration on both sides.