Specific language impairment

Recent articles

Test gauges autistic children’s verbal abilities in natural settings

An interactive assessment allows clinicians and researchers to evaluate an autistic child's use of language in everyday social situations.

By Taylor White
18 November 2020 | 3 min read
silhouette of head with illustrated text

Social communication in autism, explained

Communication problems have always been considered a core feature of autism. Yet there are substantial and wide-ranging differences in how people with autism communicate.

By Lydia Denworth
19 April 2018 | 5 min read
animation: a child sits between two parents who are talking to each other. The child looks confused or worried.

Where communication breaks down for people with autism

People on the spectrum often have subtle problems using language or making facial expressions. Pinpointing where those difficulties originate may help ease their social communication.

By Lydia Denworth
18 April 2018 | 17 min read

Why no one needs a diagnosis of ‘social communication disorder’

A diagnosis of social communication disorder only keeps people from a community and resources they desperately want and need.

By Helen Tager-Flusberg
17 April 2018 | 4 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Should scientists study mothers of children with autism?

Studying parents of children with autism has long been controversial, but that doesn’t mean scientists should avoid it.

By Helen Tager-Flusberg
12 April 2016 | 1 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Powerful memory system may compensate for autism’s deficits

A brain system called declarative memory may help people learn scripts and strategies that alleviate autism symptoms, say Michael Ullman and Mariel Pullman.

By Michael Ullman, Mariel Pullman
17 March 2015 | 9 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Toddlers with autism show few symptoms during brief exams

Many toddlers with autism display so few abnormal behaviors during short doctor visits that they may evade the diagnostic eye of even expert clinicians.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
23 January 2015 | 2 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Social language lapses hint at syndrome distinct from autism

Some siblings of children with autism have social language impairments that may signal another, more controversial disorder.

By Katie Moisse
4 November 2014 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Scaled-down device detects brain activity in children

A new device designed to conduct magneto-electroencephalography in children younger than 3 years is ideal for detecting early signs of autism, researchers reported 3 March in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 

By Jessica Wright
23 April 2014 | 2 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Loss of language gene enhances pitch discrimination in mice

Mice lacking the autism-linked gene CNTNAP2 process sounds more slowly than control mice do but are better at discriminating between tones. The unpublished research was presented Tuesday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
12 November 2013 | 3 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Pixelated human brain scans showing the distribution of mitochondria.

Mitochondrial ‘landscape’ shifts across human brain

Evolutionarily newer regions sport mitochondria with a higher capacity for energy production than older regions, according to the first detailed map of the organelles in a tissue slice, adding to mounting evidence that the brain features a metabolic gradient.

By Claudia López Lloreda
25 April 2025 | 6 min read
A clinician holds a clipboard while someone else sits on a couch.

Expediting clinical trials for profound autism: Q&A with Matthew State

Aligning Research to Impact Autism, a new initiative funded by the Sergey Brin Family Foundation, wants to bring basic science discoveries to the clinic faster.

By Lauren Schenkman
24 April 2025 | 8 min read
Illustration of astrocytes in a petri dish.

This paper changed my life: Shane Liddelow on two papers that upended astrocyte research

A game-changing cell culture method developed in Ben Barres’ lab completely transformed the way we study astrocytes and helped me build a career studying their reactive substates.

By Shane Liddelow
23 April 2025 | 6 min read