This study examined the early pragmatic language skills in typically developing (TD) preschool-age children, children with language impairment (LI) and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two hundred and sixty-two TD children, 73 children with LI, and 16 children with ASD were compared on early pragmatics through direct assessment (DA). Post hoc analysis revealed that children in two clinical groups displayed significant pragmatic language deficits. Children in the ASD group who were older exhibited comparable degree of impairments as their LI peers, suggesting a relatively stagnant development of pragmatic language skills in children with ASD. Findings also supported the use of DA in identifying pragmatic language deficits, which have implications for the adoption of this assessment approach in clinical settings.

这项研究检查了典型发育 (TD) 学龄前儿童、语言障碍 (LI) 和自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 儿童的早期语用语言技能。通过直接评估（DA）对262名TD儿童、73名LI儿童和16名ASD儿童进行早期语用学比较。事后分析显示，两个临床组的儿童表现出显着的语用语言缺陷。ASD 组中年龄较大的儿童表现出与 LI 同龄人相当程度的障碍，这表明 ASD 儿童的语用语言技能发展相对停滞。研究结果还支持使用 DA 来识别语用语言缺陷，这对在临床环境中采用这种评估方法有影响。