On The Comprehension of the Cause-Effect Relationship between Asperger Syndrome and Pragamatics Language Deterioration in a Bilingual Child with Social Communication Disorder: A Pilot Case Study (Published)
Asperger Syndrome (AS) is often associated with social, cognitive, motor, and language problems, but an estimated number of AS bilingual individuals with this syndrome; especially those with social communication disorders (SCD) typically receive the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Consequently, such inaccurate diagnosis has negative effects not only at the linguistic level, but also at the level of treatment method where AS is merely a subgroup of ASD just like higher-functioning autism (HFA) or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). Utilizing Peabody picture vocabulary test (PPVT-3) in Arabic and then in English to test an AS bilingual 12 year-old boy with SCD, the first aim of the current pilot case study was to investigate the cause-effect relationship between AS and pragmatics mechanism where these children, the researchers hypothesize, fail to crystallize implied meaning of the target language (L2), not the source language (L1), which will help identify what language and which of its aspect (s) is affected more. The study also compared two ASD diagnostic methods: Autism diagnostic observation schedule (ADOS) and Australian scale for Asperger’s syndrome (ASAS). The purpose was to specify which of these two assessment tools suits more AS individuals with SCD where, again, the researchers claim the former to be more accountable than the latter as it depends on the explanatory approach unlike the latter that follows the exploratory approach. The tests were administered in light of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM–V) and international classification of diseases and related health problems (ICD). To ensure the reliability and validity of the study, the researchers analyzed all case’s monthly and yearly school exams of both English (Case’s L1) and Arabic (Case’s L2) language courses starting with the 1st grade and culminating with the 7th grade in addition to an intelligence quotient (IQ) test that has been given prior to the tests. In addition, series of interviews were held with the parent along with related individuals to the case. Of the two languages, outlined results show significant deterioration in meaning comprehension in both L1 and L2. Compared with ASAS, ADOS found to be more accountable as it provides specific authentic data of the social behavior, cognitive and motor functions and linguistic and communication abilities of AS bilinguals with SCD in standardized and well-documented contexts. Further research on multilingualism and other ASD subgroups using large number of population, different methods and additional clinical resources is needed to turn the study from individuality into commonality; therefore, replicate its findings and generalize its outcomes
Keywords: ADOS, AS, ASAS, Arabic, Bilinguals, DSM-V, English, HFA, ICD., IQ, PDD-NOS, PPVT-3, SCD