Language Aquisition and Autism - (Aspergers)

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im not sure which Forum i should put this, so if any mods have an idea, put it where it should be cheers

I have a presentation on Language Aquisition and Autism - (Aspergers) in my English Language Module, and im looking for some case studies. i already have my own but im looking for more Aspie peoples experiences, if any of you guys or gals want to help me out it'd be great.

think about: -

1) when did you start speaking?
2) what were your first words?
3) were you prone to verbal assumptions if so, what sort of things? (E.G. thinking all dogs are called spot) and how old were you when you got the gist?
4) at what age were you able to communicate with NT's?
5) did you ever invent your own language instead?
6) what communicative problems have you experienced in your childhood?
7) what communicative problems persist into adulthood?

Also if any of you here are perents of children with AS then i would very much like to hear your experiences...

anyone who helps me will be acknowledged in the documents of my presentation ( unless you would rather not, in which case names will be changed, just ask ), i need to gather all i can in about three weeks, so i really need you guys help..

hear from you soon

Gary

it looks like you are doing too much in one hit.

If I were to prepare this scientifically -- I would ommit pretty much everything that requires me to trust my memory.

-Instead I would concetrate on 7

in which case - motor skills, and lack of attention while typing will confuse actual word/character placement, ommision of words/charcters, replacement of words/charcaters.

eg. invironment - I know how to spell environment - But my brain is actually thinking ahead about th placement of the only I in the word - so my motor action is to type the I before I even get to it.

--This type of thinking can be applied to all the language barriers that Autisitcs, suffer from.

We are thinking linearly, but our actions may come out sporadically. -just like the education process that instills language development in the first place... ie spelling before grammar, letter ennunciation before writing, talking before reading, reaction before speach -> it can be seen in chimpanzees that first you teach thme about the reactions that get them thier 'goodies' and punishment, then you teach them the objectified speach to go with it. --AS people learn these techniques out of order (and normal people do to), the thing is, as soon as an AS inquisitive learns it, they take it to the extreme and INSTILL the minor concept as a reflex, instead of practising the major concept as a skill.

OK, here goes:



1) when did you start speaking? Between 14 and 18 months. Luckily, we found two
milestones to border it
2) what were your first words? I was speaking full sentences up to at least 5 words.

3) were you prone to verbal assumptions if so, what sort of things? (E.G. thinking all dogs are called spot) and how old were you when you got the gist? None known

4) at what age were you able to communicate with NT's? Probably before 14 months.

5) did you ever invent your own language instead? Not that I am aware of.

6) what communicative problems have you experienced in your childhood? None known.

7) what communicative problems persist into adulthood? Actually, I spoke BETTER as a child.

Steve

1. When did you start speaking? I spoke my first word around six months of age.

2. What were your first words: Mama, Papa, cat (fitting for a cat lover)

3. Were you prone to verbal assumptions? I used to think cats were generally females and dogs were generally males.

4. At what age were you able to communicate with NTs-Probably around 18 months of age.

5. Did you ever invent your own language instead? No, but I have a few unusual descriptive words (nurpies for dry pet food, for example, because of the "nurp, nurp" sounds animals make when eating it.)

6. Communicative problems-None, except that English was my second language.

7. What communication problems persisted into adulthood? None, except possibly for excessive hesitations. Otherwise, I speak better than the majority of NTs, who use the words "um," and "uh" a lot and use far too many "ands" and "you knows."

i'd like to thank you all who have posted so far, keep it coming everyone.

if you want your real name in the accredation page then e-mail me your real names, or post em here if you are ok with that.

also, am i the only person that invented their own language?

OK, YOU GOT ME! I'm guilty of those two ALSO! STUPID, I KNOW!

AFTL,

NOPE, Aspies HAVE been said to often create their own language. I guess I just never bothered. I THOUGHT about it, and almost did, but figured WHY BOTHER. Then again, I was an only child, who would I really use it with?

Steve

2 or 3, but then I just quit until I was about 4. I don't think it was because I LOST my language ability, but was, instead, a conscious decision on my part to hold off talking until I had it figured out more. I was reading at this time, too.


National Geographic.



Yeah. I had a cat named Cami, and all cats I saw I called Cami. Any plant I saw was called a tree. I would get mixed up between shoes and socks---I would call my socks "shoes" and my shoes "socks."



I still have trouble! I was always ABLE to do it, I just couldn't do it very well and would always choose NOT to talk. If I were forced into a situation that required me to talk, I wouldn't know what to say and would either sit there getting mocked by students, or sit there getting lectured by my teachers. If the situation persisted, I would start crying, and if the situation got even worse, I would start banging my head on the wall or desk. Then in probably seventh grade I just kind of started to fake it by laughing, pausing for a moment to think about it, or resorting to a caustic sarcastic comment designed to get people to leave me alone because they think I am a jerk.



No.



Trying to convert speech into images for my brain, and then reconverting the image into speech so I could talk to everyone else.



Taking things literally. I have acquired a large vocabulary and studied the English grammar and read ALL the time, so I have a deeper and broader understanding of semantics and don't get easily confused anymore. I still take things literally, but I have somehow managed to train my brain to run a lightening quick search of the different meanings of the words being used and compare that to the conversation and then get a "translation" in a few seconds rather than just always being confused. It isn't even a bad thing. You get the most amusing mental pictures.

No problem, lots of interesting questions!


Ca. 14 months, started with Mama, Dada etc. and repeated things people said to me, my parents got me to repeat words a lot because I pronounced them oddly (RRRRRolling RRRRs). When I started walking at ca. 16-18 months I used to say "nge, nte, laufe" which means craw, ride, walk in Swiss German. I assume this was something my Dad said first and I repeated it, I don't know where else I would have got the word ride from as we didn't have a TV then - the ride referred to my rocking horse).


I used to think that all people called Karl were the same, I didn't understand why the father of a girl who went to kindergarten with me (she was the only other 'neighbourhood kid' in a special ed kindergarten, our mothers knew each other) was not the same person as my father's brother who was also called Karl.

I still have words that I use or interpret assuming a different meaning, but am getting much better at looking at words in more than just a ltieral way (I grew up speaking German, which has a lot of words that are made up of several other words line up into one, and it's only through adopting English as more or less my first language that I have made this step with regards to my mother tongue).


I could communicate some basic needs- one- and two-word sentences - from ca. 1 1/2 but had very bad pronounciation and continued to use mostly two-word sentences (referring to myself by my first name) . I also used to instruct people on when they were allowed to carry me (I was very hypoactive but didn't like to be held), once standing in front of my heavily pregnant aunt at ca. 2 y.o. declaring "Now you may carry", commented on my activities (I used to 'help' my mother when she was hanging the washing) and used the phrase "One, two, three!" to indicate that I wanted to be swung by my arms.

I was maybe 3 1/2 or 4 when I started to read and we got a TV (from which I memorised bits of High German, although I was always very bad at recalling the sentences and longer words correctly).

I didn't watch TV that much, but it really influenced my verbal development and I am glad for this because I would have had a lot more problems in school otherwise - we grow up speaking a dialect but the official language is German, which is what you read and write in and how lessons are taught. The grammar and vocabulary are rather different so you effectively grow up bilingual.

After that I spoke in jumbled High German sentences a lot, and used phrases borrowed from kids' educational shows (as in "What letter is this?" "What else do you spell with this letter?" etc.) to question people.

When I was getting interested in letters and words, I started to question adults and communicated more. (Asking what letter this is, and then saying that I knew it - although my most famous answer was 'Q like Kuchen [cake in German, the best translation of the mistake is saying "Q as in Cute"] - or reading adverts out loud on the bus, telling people, often strangers, about what I had read in my encycopedia etc.)

In playgroup I also started communicating with the parents there at about three or four, usually to tell them how to play with me (I usually 'became' a toy they had there that was the same as one I had at home, because other kids were playing with the actual toy).


No, I just named some objects and toys and used slightly distorted or varied words as 'object labels'. I think a lot of the time this was more the result of running short phrases I had heard into one word, though. (For example my mother used to let me stand on the toy table to look out of the window when my Dad was coming home from work, and I would exclaim "Papajappp!" which was my version of "Papa coming home" [in German])


Problems remembering the order of syllables in words, the order of words in sentences and so on. I often either didn't feel the need or didn't know how to communicate when I was unwell, and experienced great anxiety in connection with this. I also had trouble understanding people, but the processing delay was not always very long so I usually managed to 'fake it'.

I had a lot of problems initiating conversations, although would often impulsively start talking about interests or interrupt when something caught my ear.

I also interpreted a lot of things literally, although I perhaps didn't communicate often enough (or didn't pay attention to what people said) for this to always be apparent. I learned at a young age to try and observe how others reacted to an instruction if I couldn't work out what to do by myself.


Pretty much the same although I am much better at remembering words in the right order. I still tend to start talking without explaining the context a lot, e.g. assume the audience knows what I am talking about. I tend to go off on tangents and still have a delay in processing spoken language although this is usually short enough for a brief pause to solve it.

I had enough trouble with the one(s) I had to get my head round already!

1) when did you start speaking? First word around six months, short sentences at nine
2) what were your first words? Mama, doggie, dada
3) were you prone to verbal assumptions if so, what sort of things? (E.G. thinking all dogs are called spot) and how old were you when you got the gist? I referred to all meats as "chicken." My AS girl still does that at age twelve, but I stopped at a much younger age.
4) at what age were you able to communicate with NT's? Not sure, but I assume at a young age. One story that's famous in my family is when I was two or so and said to a real estate agent, who'd been showing my parents a potential home, "You're homely!" The use of "homely" instead of "ugly" is funny, I think.
5) did you ever invent your own language instead? I invent words, always have, but not a language, per se. Example: The fat pads on which cats grow whiskers are called "chumleys."
6) what communicative problems have you experienced in your childhood? Cannot express my emotions well verbally. Cannot speak in front of groups. Have difficulty relating experiences without fixating on minute details, so by the time I get to the main point, I forget what the hell I'm trying to say!
7) what communicative problems persist into adulthood? Same as above. I now try to relate as succinctly as possible, but it feels wrong not to go into detail. Apparently, most find details boring...

1 - don't know. Before you were born.

2 - I don't remember

3- I don't think so, but I definitely associated odd things with words. By brother (whom I doubt is AS) called everything that was his, or small boppies. We think it was for baby though.

4- My mother is NT (well that's not quite right - but she sure isn't AS she's just a loon), so pretty much as soon as I started suckling. Otherwise, I'd have starved.

5 - Yeah. Around 13 yrs old or so. From then until college I was developing a purely logical (yet poetic) language. I intended to automate poetry or something stupid like that.

6 - managed to constantly piss my peers off. Seemed to impress most adults. Tended to be very quiet - speak when you are spoken to type. (kept that too - I blame my mother)

7 - I can't approach others. When they approach me, I suspect them of ulterior motives/lack of right - pretty much what keeps me from talking to them. No real problem in front of groups, unless I am unprepared for a prepared speech - in which case I stutter. No problem whatsoever with well rehersed lines. Sometimes, my low self esteem (yeah it's there - I just hide it under the vanity - or is it the wardrobe?) causes stuttering when I feel less sure of my knowledge.

Hope this is of some value - I just don't have concrete useful answers for the early stuff.

1) when did you start speaking? – I don’t remember, but I do know that I started talking at a “normal age”. I also went into French Immersion when I started kindergarten. Apparently parents would receive some sort of pre-French kit before their kids actually started, and my mom said that, just from that, I was reading and speaking French even before my first day of school (note that neither of my parents spoke a word of French, so I did it all on my own).

2) what were your first words? – again, I’m not sure.

3) were you prone to verbal assumptions if so, what sort of things? (E.G. thinking all dogs are called spot) and how old were you when you got the gist? – I had trouble with the concept that other people called my mother by her name, whereas I called her “mom”. I also had trouble with the concept that other kids called THEIR mothers “mom”, when to me, MY mother was “mom”, and THEIR mothers were “Mrs. Blank”. I actually remember my mother having to explain to me that all kids called their own mothers “mom”. I accepted that well enough, but I still couldn’t figure out how to properly refer to said “other mom” when talking about her to her kids. I would still say “Mrs. Blank”, instead of “your mom”. Of course, it wasn’t just “moms”, but “dads”, “uncles”, “aunts”… I did this for a long time – probably until I was at least 9 or 10. I still have to think about it sometimes.

4) at what age were you able to communicate with NT's? – not sure I get the question, as to me “communicate” means to have a proper give-and-take conversation where both parties understand each other and can clearly see where the other is coming from. I still don’t think I can do that, at least not with NT’s.

5) did you ever invent your own language instead? – No, but I did soak up things that I heard other people say, and try to apply them to similar situations (often failing miserably because usually I didn’t quite understand the meaning of what I was repeating).

6) what communicative problems have you experienced in your childhood? – Taking everything literally, not understanding that people couldn’t read my mind, not understanding that frustrated grunts and whines don’t get my point across, not understanding that in order to get people to be your friend you kind of have to talk to them, not understanding that people won’t understand my intentions unless I tell them.

7) what communicative problems persist into adulthood? – See above. Only now I’m aware of it. I’m 28 years old and still learning how to properly “communicate”.

I agree with all of these, but I do have my own "native language" which is a mix of German, French and Greek and some Braille letters if I have a slate an stylus handy...it is a nonverbal language. but the braille codes can be expressed verbally if need be... i know, i'm pretty weird.

very good Aspiegirl89, would you be able to give me example? if you dont want others to see you can message it to me if you want

I am hyperlexic, so I can't help but point out that you spelled 'acquisition' wrong. Don't want to misspell the title of your paper.

This isn't really about language development, but if you're going to mention hyperlexia here's my info:
All my language development was normal. I taught myself to read at age 4. I obsess over words - seeing them and saying them backwards (in my head) is a way I calm myself down. I have CAPD so have a hard time communicating with people because of that, not because of language issues. I am able to learn (just barely) how to read and write a foreign language, but am abysmal at understanding or speaking another language.

1) when did you start speaking?
On time, as far as I know.
2) what were your first words?
My mom and dad can't remember. I wish they did.
3) were you prone to verbal assumptions if so, what sort of things? (E.G. thinking all dogs are called spot) and how old were you when you got the gist?
I don't think I had any problems with that.
4) at what age were you able to communicate with NT's?
I've never been able to communicate really well with them, but I guess at the same time I learned to talk?
5) did you ever invent your own language instead?
Not really, sometimes I do this squeaking though instead of saying words that only I understand, but I've never done it in public.
6) what communicative problems have you experienced in your childhood?
Being able to initiate conversations, knowing when I should speak in conversations, knowing when to say hello and goodbye, keeping conversations going, learning manners.
7) what communicative problems persist into adulthood?
I still don't initiate conversations, I still have trouble sometimes knowing when I should say hello, I still don't know how to keep conversations going well, and sometimes I don't always use my manners. So, not a whole lot has changed I guess.