AN INVESTIGATION OF COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWNS AND REPAIRS IN VERBAL AUTISTIC-CHILDREN

The spontaneous language and communicative behaviours of five verbal s chool-aged autistic children were studied relative to communication br eakdowns and repairs. The autistic children's speaker-behaviours were analysed relative to the domains of language that led to listener conf usion; their modifications in language when repairing unclear messages ; and their ability to resolve listener confusion(s). Results indicate d that the children exhibited specific impairments in form, content an d use. However, these children tried to facilitate the listener's unde rstanding when communication breakdowns occurred; however, they could not effectively mobilise their linguistic resources at the moment of t he communication breakdown to clearly resolve the listener's confusion .