Do children with autism acquire the phonology of their peers? An examination of group

Angela

Elite member
Messages
21,823
Reaction score
12,327
Points
113
Ethnic group
Italian
This interesting paper, "Do children with autism acquire the phonology of their peers? An examination of group identification through the window of bilingualism" is discussed by Razib Khan on his blog (link below) with the title "Accent tells you about your peers".

http://www.unz.com/gnxp/accent-tells-you-about-your-peers/#comments

This is the direct link to the autism paper:
http://fla.sagepub.com/content/14/42-43/241.short

He references Judith Harris' book, "The Nurture Assumption", which he interprets as mainly standing for the proposition that the shared "family" environment matters much less than people think, and that a large fraction of that environment is the one shared with one's peers.

It's in light of that prism that he interprets the finding that autistic children with parents who have an "accent" in English have the accent of their parents while their non-autistic children have the accent of their peers.
[h=1][/h]
 
This interesting paper, "Do children with autism acquire the phonology of their peers? An examination of group identification through the window of bilingualism" is discussed by Razib Khan on his blog (link below) with the title "Accent tells you about your peers".

http://www.unz.com/gnxp/accent-tells-you-about-your-peers/#comments

This is the direct link to the autism paper:
http://fla.sagepub.com/content/14/42-43/241.short

He references Judith Harris' book, "The Nurture Assumption", which he interprets as mainly standing for the proposition that the shared "family" environment matters much less than people think, and that a large fraction of that environment is the one shared with one's peers.

It's in light of that prism that he interprets the finding that autistic children with parents who have an "accent" in English have the accent of their parents while their non-autistic children have the accent of their peers.
I can see two cultural aspects playing into it. One could be the time spent with parents, where parents interact for much longer on daily bases with autistic children, as autistic kids need more parental guidance and control. Autistic children don't interact and talk, as much as other kids when in school or their special classes. Second reason, connected to first one, is identification of kids with their peer group. Normal kids tend to identify with their peers at school or their age group on TV "culture", where they have common plays, interests and long interaction. Imitating their behavior, speech patterns, body language, dance moves, fashion ideas, entire peer, their group culture. Autistic kids, most of them being socially handicapped, don't have this rich interaction with their group age to identify with them. Also they might not be very interested in teens tv programs. Instead their parents become their peer group, their cultural group, due to intensive interaction and spending most time with them, hence imitating parents speech patterns, and culture in general.
 
I can see two cultural aspects playing into it. One could be the time spent with parents, where parents interact for much longer on daily bases with autistic children, as autistic kids need more parental guidance and control. Autistic children don't interact and talk, as much as other kids when in school or their special classes. Second reason, connected to first one, is identification of kids with their peer group. Normal kids tend to identify with their peers at school or their age group on TV "culture", where they have common plays, interests and long interaction. Imitating their behavior, speech patterns, body language, dance moves, fashion ideas, entire peer, their group culture. Autistic kids, most of them being socially handicapped, don't have this rich interaction with their group age to identify with them. Also they might not be very interested in teens tv programs. Instead their parents become their peer group, their cultural group, due to intensive interaction and spending most time with them, hence imitating parents speech patterns, and culture in general.

I think that's exactly right, and I think it also explains a great deal of the disconnect that we can see in the real world between the "lifestyle" of parents, even very involved parents, and the "lifestyle" of their children. A child of immigrants who comes to the U.S. at, say, eleven or twelve, has already been imprinted with certain societal norms. Even after arrival, the bond with parents and the extended family can be very strong, and can still "filter" the input of the "peer" group and media, even more so if there are periodic long visits to the home country. So, even if there is no accent in the speech, there has been a difference in the socialization. That person's children could have a much stronger affiliation with the outside culture. Children raised in rather more circumscribed environments, the children of Mormons, for example, who do much of their socializing with the children of other church members, are, in my experience, less influenced by the outside culture.

It all makes the whole nature/nurture debate much more complex. Not only are the genetics of siblings, even fraternal siblings who share the same womb, different, but even in terms of the outside environment, there may be differences. It's a cautionary tale for parents. So much depends on the friendships that teens make and sustain.
 
I think the fact that parents and in particular, the mother, is the primary teacher of the child, explains why that child learns her accent when learning words. In the S.B.Cohen study you listed Angela, it shows the accent the child took on was in the majority of cases, that of mum, she being it seems likely in these cases, the primary carer and teacher.
However, many parents of speaking autistic children say their children sometimes speak with a "posh" accent or even sometimes an American accent on some words, even though neither parent is American or speak with a posh accent themselves...it seems the accent of the word can sometimes be copied as heard from the source where the word has been heard, often in the same tone.
For many autistic children, as has been said here, the parents will remain their primary social circle. The language of communication in that circle is what they will follow. For typical developing children, at some point the family will become secondary, with peers becoming the more important group they wish to be part of and simulate.
As for N+N, they still walk together a good way IMO, and I think this study shows this.
 

This thread has been viewed 12669 times.

Back
Top