Prosody In Austim Spectrum Disorder

Analyzing and assessing prosodic abilities in children and adolescents with ASD.

Lab Members: Jill Thorson, Nicole Usher, Rupal Patel

Collaborators: Helen Tager-Flusberg (ACE Project Director, Boston University)

Very little research has been conducted on the prosody of minimally to non-verbal children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The first part of this project acoustically analyzes the prosodic productions of minimally verbal children with ASD in an effort to better categorize the speech patterns and prosodic knowledge of this group. The second part of this project is devoted to the creation of a novel language assessment that will evaluate prosodic knowledge and abilities in this same population. The goal of this assessment is to be able to learn more about this group’s prosodic understanding and better evaluate these capabilities.

This project is an extension of the Prosodic Marionette research in the CadLab at Northeastern as well as a component of an NIH Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) grant awarded to Boston University’s Center for Autism Research Excellence (CARE) under the direction of Helen Tager-Flusberg.