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We asked whether children with ASD can learn new words from overheard speech. We adapted a novel word learning task previously used with typically-developing children (Akhtar et al., 2001). Children with ASD participated in an Addressed condition, in which they were shown three novel objects, one of which was given a novel label (e.g., toma), and an Overheard condition in which the objects and label were presented in a conversation between two adults. In both conditions, children were then asked to, e.g., find the toma. Our results indicated that there was no difference in task performance between the Addressed and Overheard conditions. Therefore, at least some children with ASD can learn from overheard speech. Understanding individual differences in attending to and learning from different kinds of input may be helpful in explaining the heterogeneity of language ability in ASD. This work was funded by NIH K01 DC013306 and a Faculty Advancement Fund Grant from Emerson College. |
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