Comprehending reflexive and clitic constructions in children with autism spectrum disorder and developmental language disorder.

The comprehension of reflexive pronouns cannot be considered a diagnostic marker for distinguishing ASD from DLD. What this paper adds What is already known on the subject Previous studies have found that the performance of children with ASD in the comprehension of personal pronouns is equivalent to youngest control groups, but poorer regarding the interpretation of reflective pronouns. However, children with DLD do not usually have problems with the use of pronouns, which suggests that their pronoun processing is not affected. As pronoun interpretation seems be connected to the development of pragmatic abilities, it could be considered a plausible marker in the differential diagnosis between ASD and DLD. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This paper presents the results of two experiments involving pronoun processing by those with ASD (both with and without language disorder) and those with DLD. The design enables us to analyse the reflexive and clitic pronoun processing in people with ASD and DLD, regardless of their language proficiency. One experiment uses an eye-tracking methodology that allows us to obtain data about how the pronouns are processed in real time. It represents an attempt to identify language markers that may help distinguish between the two groups and adapt the interventions to the specific problems experienced by each one. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? The results indicate that it is not possible to identify any specific impairment in pronoun processing among the clinical groups (ASD and DLD).