social Communication Predictors in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Theoretical Review

Abstract

social communication represents one of the main areas of impairment in the case of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (APA, 2013). Several studies have investigated predictors in this domain; however, the results are mostly inconsistent or lack clarity. The purpose of this theoretical review is to analyze studies that address vocabulary, prosody, and cognitive flexibility in relation to deficits in pragmatic language, in the case of individuals with ASD. This synthesis was conducted on 18 studies, based on a systematic search of ScienceDirect and NCBI (PubMed and PubMed Central) databases. A number of 1523 participants were included in the analyzed studies. Results indicate that prosody has a major impact on social communication. However, difficulties in processing prosody do not account as the only predictors in the general abilities of language and communication. Regarding the executive functioning, future research is needed to fully understand the relationship between social communication and cognitive flexibility.