What are communication and language difficulties found in autism?
As is the case with social deficits, significant language deficits are necessary for a diagnosis of autism. • Individuals with autism may use little to no spoken language. In other cases, there may be delayed or disordered speech. • If an individual does have speech, he or she may not be able to initiate or sustain a conversation. Individuals with autism often do not understand how to hold a conversation, are not able to consider what the other person in a conversation understands, perceives, and believes (i.e., difficulty with perspective taking), and may not tune in to non-verbal cues like facial expression, tone of voice and body language. It is important to remember that communication is as much nonverbal as it is verbal, and people with ASD have great difficulty understanding nonverbal language. • Individuals with autism may display echolalia (repeating previously heard words or phrases in place of spontaneous language); they may not be able to use language appropriately or in con
