Abstract: . . .  psycholinguistics Page 1 PLINX204 PSYCHOLINGUISTICS LANGUAGE ACQUISITION – 2006 - 8 Language acquisition in pathology (1) Autism (and SLI). Basic reading: Bishop, 2003; Fay, 1993; Bartlett et al, 2002; Müller, 2004. Additional reading: Veenstra & Cook (2003); Wilson, 2003; Tager-Flusberg (2004). 1. Autism is characterised by: a. Profound withdrawal from human relationships; obsessive preoccupation with objects and set routines (cf. 'Rainman'), leading to repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behaviour, interests and activities b. Impairments in communication, social interaction and emotional response: autists are ‘systemising’ rather than ‘empathising’ (Baron-Cohen et al, 2005). 2. These characteristics are standardly attributed to a lack of understanding of the mental states of others, due to a defective theory of mind (See Baron-Cohen, 1995; Tager- Flusberg, 2004; Smith et al, 2003, references therein; and (4) below). Most autistic children have subnormal intelligence (see Fay, 1993:191) but some are very 'high functioning' (Asperger’s Syndrome) e.g. Temple Grandin (1986); Donna Williams (1992, 1994, 1996). 3. Language deficits constitute a fundamental feature of autism. . . .
--2324,1,1162,1282,11620