Autism and Local Dialect Usage

A Study of Five Cases in Which Usage Commenced During the Elementary School Age or Adolescent Periods

Abstract

Matsumoto, Sakihara, Kikuchi, et al. (2014) stated that although it has been reported that it is generally accepted in Japan that people with autism do not speak in the various regional dialects, there have also been accounts by educators and guardians that contradict that perception. They tell of the existence of cases in which children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who had already been communicating using the standard Japanese language, began to use a local dialect after reaching elementary school age or adolescence. Five such cases were investigated using a questionnaire regarding the timing of the acquisition of usage of a local dialect, as well as 55 items regarding interpersonal cognitive skills. Differences were seen in the ages at which the subjects initially began using dialectal language, with one each doing so at ages 7, 9, and 18, and the remaining two at age 16. Of the total interpersonal cognitive skills that were reported to have been acquired by each subject, the percentage in which the acquisitions had occurred around the same period as the commencement of dialect usage ranged from 26 - 97%. In addition, when considering the types of skills that had already been acquired before initial usage of dialects, and those acquired concurrently with initial dialect usage, remarkable growth was seen in the areas of comprehension of intent and of conversational ability. Based on these results, the current paper discusses the relationship between usage of local dialects and interpersonal cognition in people with ASD.