Morphological and morpho-syntactic abilities among adolescents with ASD and adolescents with typical development

The current study investigated the morphological and morpho-syntactic abilities of Hebrew-speaking adolescents with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The aim was to determine if there were group-level differences between adolescents with ASD and those with typical development and to identify individual language profiles among adolescents with ASD. Given the impact of morphological and morpho-syntactic abilities on verbal and academic components such as language comprehension, syntax, and reading comprehension (Brynskov et al., 2012), and considering the scarcity of research on this topic among children with ASD in different languages, particularly Hebrew, this investigation was essential.
The study involved two groups, each comprising 30 subjects (60 participants in total). The ASD group included five girls and 25 boys aged 14-18 years (M = 16.30, SD = 1.39), who were enrolled in regular education, either in small classes or fully integrated settings. The typical development group consisted of nine girls and 21 boys of the same age (M = 16.35, SD = 1.36). Parental questionnaires provided background information for each participant.
Research tools were administered individually and examined background variables such as non-verbal IQ (NVIQ), receptive vocabulary (PPVT), and expressive vocabulary (Shemesh). Tasks were also conducted to assess the production of morphological and morpho-syntactic structures. Data analysis included group-level comparisons and correlations between background variables and the morphological and morpho-syntactic tasks. Individual analyses identified language profiles among adolescents with ASD based on their morphological and morpho-syntactic abilities.
The results revealed a wide range of morphological and morpho-syntactic abilities in adolescents with ASD. Significant differences favoring the control group were found in three tasks: Past Tense verb structure, Tense and Agreement, and Morphological Choice. Task difficulty was comparable across both groups, with Noun Pluralization and Plural Agreement with a regular suffix being easier than those with an irregular suffix. Different correlations emerged between the control and ASD groups. Typically developing adolescents showed correlations with all background variables, including chronological age and NVIQ, and most morphological tasks. In contrast, the ASD group showed correlations primarily with receptive and expressive vocabulary. No correlations were found between background variables and Past and Future Tense verb structure tasks in either group. Analysis of individual results identified four language profiles among adolescents with ASD: those with low abilities across all tasks, those with task-dependent challenges, those with specific strengths in morphology and morpho-syntax, and those with age-appropriate abilities.
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The study concluded that the morphological and morpho-syntactic abilities of adolescents with ASD varied widely. Specific language assessments were deemed necessary to identify difficulties and develop targeted intervention programs.