The way that we talk about, think about, and work with people with autism has evolved significantly in the past decade. People around the world, including ASHA members, have advocated to change how we think about autism and the services we can and should provide for these individuals.
With shifts in what are considered best practices for supporting autistic individuals, you may feel less confident in your knowledge. In honor of World Autism Month, we’re helping you confront that head-on by highlighting popular articles in the field of autism and neurodiversity published in the last year.
Autism in Children
Exploring Maze Patterns in Bilingual and Monolingual Children With and Without Autism: A Pragmatic Perspective: Monolingual children with autism show distinct linguistic disfluencies—such as using phonological fragments, silent pauses within utterances, and fewer filled pauses. Authors found that bilingual autistic children demonstrated these disfluencies less frequently, suggesting that they may have enhanced communicative adaptability.
Correlation Between Emergent Literacy Skills and Reading Abilities in Young Autistic Children: A Meta-Analysis: Autistic children have poorer emergent literacy capacities relative to their non-autistic peers—this can impact future literacy outcomes. Researchers discuss the need for speech-language pathologists (SLPs), educators, and other practitioners toassess emergent literacy skills in autistic children and actively promote and treat these abilities in the classroom or clinic.
Autism in Adults
Implications of Linguistic Convergence and Divergence Among Matched and Mixed Autistic and Non-Autistic Communication Partners: Scientists have long described the communication abilities of autistic individuals as deficient, highlighting inferencing skills, turn-taking, and other conversational conventions. In this article, the authors show that people with autism do effectively communicate, particularly with one another—suggesting previously overlooked strengths.
“Do I Need Anything More Specific?”: Experiences of Autistic Participants in a Language-Focused Research Study: Researchers and practitioners conduct spoken language tasks with autistic clients regularly, but these tasks often don’t incorporate the needs and experiences of this population. Read about how to provide more specific task instructions and expectations when working with neurodivergent people.
Evidence-Based Practice, Training, and Knowledge
Closing the Research-to-Practice Gap in Autism: A Professional Practice Intervention Pilot Study for Increasing Use of Evidence-Based Practice: Knowing how to translate autism research into your practice can be challenging, but it’s also essential. Learn about an intervention designed to help clinicians improve and sustain their use of evidence-based practice when providing care for autistic children.
Training and Knowledge in Autism Among Speech-Language Pathologists: Follow-Up Study of Schwartz and Drager (2008): SLPs see a wide variety of people in the clinic, and graduate courses can’t prepare them for all of the clients they’ll work with. Clinicians say that they’ve seen increased course offerings in autism and feel confident working this population, but they (clinicians) struggle with understanding autism criteria, including performing screenings.
More Autism Resources From ASHA Journals
Two forums published last year may be of particular interest to ASHA members who work with neurodiverse individuals. First, a forum published in Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups highlights intersectional approaches to autism, including cultural considerations. A forum published in AJSLP discusses the communication needs of people with severe intellectual disabilities, which may co-occur with autism or other sensory disorders.
For clinicians working in schools, our Special Collection on Postsecondary Transition provides resources from ASHA and ASHA Journals on how to help autistic individuals prepare for life after high school. Articles, continuing education courses, and other materials give you a wide variety of information you can use.
We hope that these tools can help you continue to deliver high-quality care for autistic and neurodiverse people around the world. Stay tuned to ASHA and ASHA Journals all month long—and join us in advocating for the important services you provide.
