LANGUAGE-ACQUISITION AFTER MUTISM - A LONGITUDINAL CASE-STUDY OF AUTISM

This longitudinal case study challenges the assumption that individual s with autism who have severely restricted speech and language skills have a poor prognosis for further development of expressive oral langu age. The study follows the development of a woman with autism from mut ism at age 10 to acquisition of a range of spoken and written language skills at age 26. The intervention in which the woman participated an d her skills pre- and post-intervention and at two follow-up assessmen ts are documented. The results support the hypotheses that speech and language development may proceed after mutism associated with limited verbal imitation and phoneme production skills, that some skills may p lateau or decline, and that both spoken and written language may becom e viable forms of communication.