Our methods
Our methods
Studying language comprehension in
autistic minimal, unreliable and non-speakers
Around 30% of autistic people have no or minimal spoken language. Despite a dramatic rise in global funding for autism research over the past few decades, autistic non-speakers have remained chronically under-researched. As a result, we know very little about autistic non-speakers' language comprehension abilities.
The aim of our research program is to address this research gap by developing novel methods for studying language comprehension in autistic minimal, unreliable and non-speakers.
To this end, we are currently running two studies, led by Dr Hannah Rapaport.
Study 1: Brain signatures of language comprehension
The aim of this study is to reliably detect 'brain signatures' of language comprehension in autistic non- and minimal speakers.
We use a brain recording tool called 'electroencephalography' (EEG) to record participants' brain activity as they listen to a series of spoken sentences.
Some of the sentences end in a word that is congruent with the rest of the sentence (e.g., The clouds are high up in the sky), and some end in a word that does not make sense in the sentence (e.g., The clouds are high up in the door).
A difference in the brain response between the congruent and incongruent sentences would offer neural evidence of language comprehension.
We are analysing the data and look forward to sharing the results soon.
Watch this video by former Woolgar Lab researcher, Dr Selene Petit, to learn more about this study.
Key Publication: Petit et al. 2020
Study 2: Adapting classic vocabulary tests to accommodate autistic non-speakers
Classic vocabulary tests may underestimate autistic non-speakers' language abilities because they are not designed to accommodate autistic non-speaker's needs.
The aim of this study is to develop new tools to characterise language comprehension in autistic non-speakers who communicate using letterboards.
We adapted a classic picture vocabulary test to better accommodate the needs of autistic non-speakers.
Participants are asked to:
A) Select one of four pictures that matches a spoken word, or
B) Select one of four words that matches a spoken definition.
Participants respond using a number board and work alongside a familiar letterboard practitioner who cannot themselves see the pictures.
Get in touch!
We would love to hear from autistic non- and minimal-speakers, their families, practitioners and other stakeholders.
Please complete the form below if you would like to join our mailing list, find out more about our research, participate in our research, ask a question, or offer suggestions for future research studies.