Syntax and Morphology in Danish-Speaking Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
High-functioning children with autism often pass vocabulary tests yet still need grammar support.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Brynskov et al. (2017) compared Danish-speaking children with autism to same-age peers.
They tested real grammar skills: word endings, sentence frames, and vocabulary.
All kids could talk well; the team wanted to see if grammar still lagged behind.
What they found
Children with autism knew plenty of words, but grammar was still shaky.
Even when vocabulary scores looked normal, syntax and morphology scores stayed low.
Standard vocab tests can hide these deeper language gaps.
How this fits with other research
Rundblad et al. (2010) and Lampri et al. (2024) found the same hidden problem in figurative language.
Their autistic participants also looked fluent on the surface yet failed metaphors.
Chuah et al. (2025) and Flapper et al. (2013) show the pattern crosses languages: Mandarin and English samples reveal similar vocab-versus-structure splits.
Riches et al. (2016) seems to disagree; adolescents with autism processed ambiguous sentences as fast as peers.
The key difference is age and task: G et al. tested quick reactions in teens, while Cecilia tested detailed grammar in young children.
Speed can look fine even when accuracy and richness are not.
Why it matters
If you only run vocabulary checks, you can miss the grammar holes that fuel social and academic trouble.
Add a short morphology probe or sentence-imitation task to your intake.
Target grammar directly in therapy even when the child sounds chatty.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The current study examined delays in syntax and morphology, and vocabulary, in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Children ages 4-6 years with ASD (n = 21) and typical development (n = 21), matched on nonverbal mental age, completed five language tasks. The ASD group had significant delays in both syntax and morphology, and vocabulary measures, with significant within-group heterogeneity; furthermore, syntactic and morphological measures were impaired even for subgroups matched on vocabulary. Children in the ASD group without early language delay showed syntactic and morphological impairment, with intact performance on vocabulary and sentence repetition. Findings indicate that syntactic and morphological impairments are a significant concern for high-functioning children with ASD, and may be overlooked if language evaluation focuses exclusively on vocabulary.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2017 · doi:10.1007/s10803-016-2962-7