Purpose: This study examined narrative quality of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using a well-studied "story goodness" coding system. Method: Narrative samples were analyzed for distinct aspects of story goodness and rated by naïve readers on dimensions of story goodness, accuracy, cohesiveness, and oddness. Adolescents with high-functioning ASD were compared with adolescents with typical development (TD; n = 15 per group). A second study compared narratives from adolescents across three groups: ASD, TD, and youths with "optimal outcomes," who were diagnosed with ASD early in development but no longer meet criteria for ASD and have typical behavioral functioning.Results: In both studies, the ASD group's narratives had lower composite quality scores compared with peers with typical development. In Study 2, narratives from the optimal outcomes group were intermediate in scores and did not differ significantly from those of either other group. However, naïve raters were able to detect qualitative narrative differences across groups. Conclusions: Findings indicate that pragmatic deficits in ASD are salient and could have clinical relevance. Furthermore, results indicate subtle differences in pragmatic language skills for individuals with optimal outcomes despite otherwise typical language skills in other domains. These results highlight the need for clinical interventions tailored to the specific deficits of these populations.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has typically been considered a lifelong condition; however, studies have identified a subset of children (estimates suggest 3%-25%) who improve to such an extent that they no longer meet diagnostic criteria for ASD

Previous research has demonstrated that speakers adapt individual characteristics of speech production to the social context, for example via phonetic convergence. Studies have measured the impact of social dynamics on convergence in typical speakers, but the impact of individual differences is less well-explored. The present study measures phonetic convergence before and after a cooperative interaction with an undergraduate student by comparing teens with a history of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and with typical development. Results revealed a small temporal convergence effect for typically developing dyads; in contrast, dyads including autistic teens showed no convergence. Furthermore, the degree of convergence was negatively related to severity of ASD symptomatology and atypical sensory profiles. While social and sensory processing abilities may play a role in phonetic convergence, high covariance between these measures makes it difficult to differentiate their contributions in isolation.

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