Figurative language comprehension in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: A meta-analytic review

Abstract

We present a meta-analysis of studies that compare figurative language comprehension in individuals with autism spectrum disorder and in typically developing controls who were matched based on chronological age or/and language ability. A total of 41 studies and 45 independent effect sizes were included based on predetermined inclusion criteria. Group matching strategy, age, types of figurative language, and cross-linguistic differences were examined as predictors that might explain heterogeneity in effect sizes. Overall, individuals with autism spectrum disorder showed poorer comprehension of figurative language than their typically developing peers (Hedges’ g = –0.57). A meta-regression analysis showed that group matching strategy and types of figurative language were significantly related to differences in effect sizes, whereas chronological age and cross-linguistic differences were not. Differences between the autism spectrum disorder and typically developing groups were small and nonsignificant when the groups were matched based on the language ability. Metaphors were more difficult to comprehend for individuals with autism spectrum disorder compared with typically developing controls than were irony and sarcasm. Our findings highlight the critical role of core language skills in figurative language comprehension. Interventions and educational programmes designed to improve social communication skills in individuals with autism spectrum disorder may beneficially target core language skills in addition to social skills.

Pragmatic competence and its relationship with the linguistic and cognitive profile of young adults with dyslexia

“…Along with Griffiths (2007), who also reported correlations between pragmatic skills and naming, phonetic and working memory scores, one might hypothesize that reduced abilities in automatized language processing might cause overload and result in misunderstanding and difficulties at the pragmatic level. The relation to vocabulary tasks is also interesting, as reported also for pragmatic difficulties in other neurodevelopmental conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (Kalandadze et al, 2016;Vulchanova et al, 2015).…”

“…The complex interplay of the linguistic and cognitive resources necessary for a pragmatically successful behaviour is especially relevant for the comprehension of nonliteral language, including figurative expressions such as metaphors and irony, which is supported by several cognitive and neural systems (Bambini, Gentili, Ricciardi, Bertinetto, & Pietrini, 2011;Spotorno, Koun, Prado, Van Der Henst, & Noveck, 2012). Nonliteral meaning comprehension is proved to be a challenge for nontypically developing children, as well as for neurological and psychiatric patients (Kalandadze, Norbury, Naerland, & Naess, 2016;Thoma & Daum, 2006). Across populations, difficulties with nonliteral meanings and figurative language are often associated with impairment in executive functions and with poor performance in Theory of Mind tests, which assess the ability to attribute attitudes and mental states (including communicative intentions) and to predict the behaviour of others (Bambini, Arcara, Bechi, et al, 2016;Bambini, Arcara, Martinelli, et al, 2016;Bosco, Parola, Sacco, Zettin, & Angeleri, 2017;Martin & McDonald, 2003;Wampers, Schrauwen, De Hert, Gielen, & Schaeken, 2017).…”

Addressing the Challenge of Verbal Irony: Getting Serious about Sarcasm Training

“…Individuals with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show social and communicative impairments that often include difficulties with irony understanding (Kalandadze et al 2018). Further, children and adults with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) tend to show deficits in irony comprehension (Dennis et al 2001(Dennis et al , 2013McDonald 1992;McDonald and Pearce 1996).…”

“…It has been argued that core language skills (e.g., vocabulary, syntax, semantics) are critical to figurative language comprehension, and that deficits in core language skills best explain difficulties with figurative language understanding in autism (Kalandadze et al 2018). Kalandadze et al (2018) noted that since language skills and TOM are strongly related in typically developing children (Milligan et al 2007), it is difficult to identify their unique contributions to figurative language comprehension. Indeed, individuals with ASD tend to do better on irony tasks that have reduced verbal demands (Glenwright and Agbayewa 2012;Pexman et al 2011).…”

“…The role of social experience in developing irony comprehension skills (e.g., Hala et al 2005) may put children with autism at an additional disadvantage, as they may be less likely to participate in the kinds of conversations that provide experience with and explanations for verbal irony. Kalandadze et al (2018) suggested that clinicians and caregivers should use figurative language with individuals with ASD, and should provide explanations to accompany ironic speech. They suggested, further, that training efforts should focus on core language skills as well as social skills, as they predicted that these skills will support figurative language comprehension.…”