Language in low-functioning children with autistic disorder: differences between receptive and expressive skills and concurrent predictors of language.
Low-functioning autistic kids with ID have stronger expressive than receptive language—target joint attention and symbol understanding to boost language.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Maljaars et al. (2012) looked at kids with low-functioning autism plus intellectual disability. They compared receptive and expressive language scores. They also tested what skills predicted better language.
The team used standard language tests. They checked joint attention and symbol understanding. They compared the group to kids with ID only and typically developing kids.
What they found
Kids with autism plus ID showed the opposite pattern from other groups. Their expressive scores were higher than their receptive scores. Kids with ID only and typical kids had the usual pattern: receptive ahead of expressive.
Two skills predicted language growth in the autism plus ID group: understanding symbols and sharing joint attention. These predictors mattered more than IQ or autism severity.
How this fits with other research
Brignell et al. (2024) seems to disagree at first. They found that early language level, not autism label, drives later growth. The key difference: their sample was verbal kids. Jarymke studied kids who were still non-verbal or barely verbal. The two papers together show that prediction factors change once speech starts.
Kjellmer et al. (2012) used a similar design the same year. They also ran regression models on preschoolers with ASD. They flagged cognition and autism severity as top predictors. Jarymke adds joint attention and symbol use to that list for the lowest-functioning subgroup.
Laugeson et al. (2014) extended the same autism plus ID group. They tracked social growth over time. They found these kids fall further behind socially each year. Pair this with Jarymke’s language predictors and you get a clear action plan: boost joint attention and symbols early to lift both language and social paths.
Why it matters
Most clinicians expect receptive language to top expressive. This study warns you to flip that assumption for kids with autism plus ID. Watch for stronger talking than understanding. Spend extra time on joint attention games and symbol teaching. These two targets can move language scores in a group that usually plateaus early.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Language profiles of children with autistic disorder and intellectual disability (n = 36) were significantly different from the comparison groups of children with intellectual disability (n = 26) and typically developing children (n = 34). The group low-functioning children with autistic disorder obtained a higher mean score on expressive than on receptive language, whereas both comparison groups showed the reverse pattern. Nonverbal mental age, joint attention, and symbolic understanding of pictures were analyzed in relation to concurrent receptive and expressive language abilities. In the group with autistic disorder and intellectual disability, symbol understanding and joint attention were most strongly related to language abilities. Nonverbal mental age was the most important predictor of language abilities in the comparison groups.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2012 · doi:10.1007/s10803-012-1476-1