Inflectional morphology in high-functioning autism: Evidence for speeded grammatical processing.

Siegel et al. (2014) watched boys with high-functioning autism and typical boys make past-tense verbs.

The kids sat at a computer. They saw a sentence stem like “Yesterday I ___” and had to finish it with the right verb form.

The team measured how fast each child hit the keys, not just whether the answer was right.

The autistic boys were faster on rule verbs like “walk-walked.” Their speed looked almost rushed.

On odd verbs like “go-went,” both groups took the same time. Accuracy was equal, but the speed pattern was not.

The quick rule-verb speed hints that their brains handle grammar in a different way, even when tests scores look normal.

Baixauli et al. (2016) pooled 24 studies and found that high-functioning kids almost always tell weaker stories. Matthew’s kids could flex grammar fast, yet that did not save their wider language use.

Matson et al. (2009) saw normal inspection-time speed in the same population. Matthew adds a new spot—grammar—where speed can be oddly high, not slow.

Urgelles et al. (2012) showed intact statistical learning. Together the trio tells us that small low-level steps can work fine while bigger language pieces stay fragile.

You may hear “language scores are in the average range” and think grammar is safe. Watch the process, not just the score. If a child blurts rule forms too fast, build pause habits and check whether meaning and story sense keep up. Target rich narration and flexible word use even when discrete grammar seems intact.