Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Location: 46-3002 (Singleton Auditorium)

Speaker: Helen Tager-Flusberg, Ph.D.
Affiliation: Professor Emerita, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Boston University

Hosts: Dr. Mriganka Sur, Dr. Ev Fedorenko

Talk title: Rethinking the Place of Language in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract: Historically, deficits in language were among the defining characteristics of ASD, however they were eliminated in DSM 5 over a decade ago.  This change reflected shifts in who was being diagnosed with ASD, including increasing numbers of verbally fluent individuals, as well as individuals with genetic syndromes, many of whom are non- or minimally-verbal.  In this talk, I will survey developmental, psycholinguistic and neuroimaging research with the goal of identifying the nature of language/communication impairments, if any, that cross the full spectrum of ASD.  Many factors contribute to the range of differences in language in ASD from sensory and motor; cognitive and linguistic but here, I propose that one unifying difference is in the structure and functioning of the speech-motor system.  Discussion will then focus on evidence for this proposal as well as implications for advancing biological studies and informing treatment research.