Huang, Chunyang2020-09-222020-09-222020-07https://hdl.handle.net/11299/216386University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. July 2020. Major: Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences. Advisor: Lizbeth Finestack. 1 computer file (PDF); vii, 93 pages.Purpose Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show difficulties understanding non-literal language, such as metaphors and irony, because of their impaired theory of mind ability. The current study investigated comprehension of indirect answers as an understudied form of non-literal language by this population. There were three primary aims. The first aim compared performance on comprehension of indirect answers by children with ASD to their peers with typical development (TD). The second aim examined theory of mind and other potential contributors to comprehension of indirect answers. The third aim explored erroneous interpretations of speaker intentions by the two groups. Method Nineteen 5- to 8-year-old children with ASD and forty-eight 5- to 10-year-old children with TD participated in the study. Participants with ASD completed various standardized, norm-referenced assessments of their non-verbal IQ, receptive and expressive language ability, severity of autism symptomology, theory of mind, world knowledge, and pragmatic skills. Participants with TD completed an abbreviated protocol with one assessment of non-verbal IQ and one of expressive language ability. All participants completed an experimental task designed to measure comprehension and explanation of indirect answers. Participant responses were scored and coded using a newly established coding scheme for comparisons. Results Children with ASD performed at a level similar to their peers with TD matched on age and expressive language ability. Hierarchical linear regression analysis indicated that receptive and expressive language ability and world knowledge were significant contributors to comprehension of indirect answers, whereas non-verbal IQ, severity of autism symptomology, theory of mind, and pragmatic skills might not be as important in accounting for task performance. Examination of inadequate explanations of indirect answers revealed that children with ASD had significantly more responses that were characterized as Irrelevant to Context than their peers with TD. Conclusion The novel finding that the two groups performed at a similar level suggests that comprehension of indirect answers is not a consistent weakness in language for children with ASD. Instead, it may be a strength for a subgroup with a particular cognitive and language profile. Clinically, it may be useful for speech-language pathologists to target receptive and expressive language skills as well as world knowledge to facilitate comprehension of indirect answers. Explanations that are irrelevant to context should be investigated further as a potential error type unique to this population’s metapragmatic weaknesses in interpreting speaker intentions.enautism spectrum disorderconversational implicatureindirect answersrelevance implicatureThesis or Dissertation