Language deficits represent one of the most relevant factors that determine the clinical phenotype of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The main aim of the research was to study the grammatical comprehension of children with ASD. A sample of 70 well-diagnosed children (60 boys and 10 girls; aged 4.9–8 years) were prospectively recruited. The results showed that language comprehension is the most impaired language domain in ASD. These findings have important clinical implications, since the persistence of grammatical receptive deficits may have a negative impact on social, adaptive and learning achievements. As for the grammatical profiles, persistent difficulties were found during the school-age years in morphological and syntactic decoding in children with relatively preserved cognitive and expressive language skills. These data and the lack of a statistically significant correlation between the severity of ASD symptoms and language skills are in line with the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition) perspective that considers the socio-communication disorder as a nuclear feature of ASD and the language disorder as a specifier of the diagnosis and not as a secondary symptom anymore. The presence of receptive difficulties in school-age ASD children with relatively preserved non-verbal cognitive abilities provides important hints to establish rehabilitative treatments.

中文翻译：

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意大利自闭症谱系障碍儿童的语法理解。

语言缺陷是决定自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童临床表型的最相关因素之一。该研究的主要目的是研究ASD儿童的语法理解。前瞻性地招募了70名经过良好诊断的儿童（60名男孩和10名女孩；年龄4.9-8岁）。结果表明，语言理解能力是ASD中受损最大的语言领域。这些发现具有重要的临床意义，因为语法接受缺陷的持续存在可能对社交，适应和学习成绩产生负面影响。至于语法特征，在学龄期间发现具有相对保留的认知和表达语言技能的儿童在形态和句法解码方面存在持续的困难。这些数据以及ASD症状严重程度与语言能力之间缺乏统计学上的显着相关性符合DSM-5（精神障碍诊断和统计手册，第五版）的观点，该观点将社会沟通障碍视为一种核ASD的特征和语言障碍可以作为诊断的依据，而不再是继发症状。具有相对保留的非语言认知能力的学龄ASD儿童存在接受困难，这为建立康复治疗提供了重要提示。第五版）的观点认为社会交流障碍是ASD的核心特征，而语言障碍则是诊断的依据，而不再是继发症状。具有相对保留的非语言认知能力的学龄ASD儿童存在接受困难，这为建立康复治疗提供了重要提示。第五版）的观点认为社会交流障碍是ASD的核心特征，而语言障碍则是诊断的依据，而不再是继发症状。具有相对保留的非语言认知能力的学龄ASD儿童存在接受困难，这为建立康复治疗提供了重要提示。