Autism Spectrum Disorder: Exploring the speech and language continuum

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) lacks a clear neurobiological marker, and hundreds of genes appear to be implicated in the disorder. Researchers have begun to reassess the underlying diagnostic characteristics for their explanatory and predictive power across the spectrum; especially in the context of an apparent speech-language continuum ranging from minimally verbal/nonverbal to verbal individuals with ASD. Detailed behavioral, clinical, and neuroimaging studies are increasingly probing the locus of the pathophysiology of ASD towards identifying common and divergent mechanisms for producing the core diagnostic symptoms. Although core symptoms of ASD appear in the first two years of life, less is known about the factors contributing to the variability in developmental trajectory and clinical outcomes. Findings point to a role for multisensory disturbances as a potential source of heterogeneity; whereas biologically distinct pathophysiologies in the domains of eye tracking or visuomotor skills, for example, are associated with language development, the relationship between them is yet to be elucidated.

Research with minimally verbal/nonverbal children and adults with ASD, while increasing,
remains limited. Equally troublesome is the absence of a concerted effort to find a unifying
account of differences in verbal ability across the autism spectrum. This proposal is an attempt to bring together basic and clinical researchers from multiple disciplines to synthesize results from robust studies of speech and language in individuals with ASD across the spectrum for developing meaningful interventions.

In this Research Topic, we ask: (a) what are the factors that underlie the heterogeneity in speech and language in ASD; (b) which of these factors have the greatest discriminant potential for informing sensitivity and specificity issues; (c) how might these factors individually or in combination account for the range in speech and language abilities in ASD. Behavioral and neuroimaging studies attempting to explain the basis of the speech, language and communication challenges in ASD and which help connect the dots between minimally verbal and verbal individuals with ASD are particularly welcome; as are intervention studies that provide mechanistic insights into treatment interventions. In keeping with this goal, an important criterion for manuscripts submitted to this Research Topic collection is the inclusion of well-defined study subjects that incorporates age, gender, severity, sensory and cognitive measures to allow for interpretation with rigor and improved translational efforts in the field of ASD.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, speech and language, subgroups, minimally verbal, brain-behavior outcome measures

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.