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What Silent Pauses Can 'Tell' Us About the Storytelling Skills of Autistic Children: Relations Between Pausing, Language Skills and Executive Functions.

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Title: What Silent Pauses Can 'Tell' Us About the Storytelling Skills of Autistic Children: Relations Between Pausing, Language Skills and Executive Functions.
Authors: Peristeri, Eleni (AUTHOR), Drakoulaki, Katerina (AUTHOR), Boznou, Antonia (AUTHOR), Nerantzini, Michaela (AUTHOR), Gena, Angeliki (AUTHOR), Lengeris, Angelos (AUTHOR), Varlokosta, Spyridoula (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders. Dec2025, Vol. 55 Issue 12, p4171-4184. 14p.
Subjects: Speech evaluation, Asperger's syndrome in children, Autism in children, Grammar, Research funding, Computer software, Task performance, Statistical hypothesis testing, T-test (Statistics), Data analysis, Executive function, Affinity groups, Chi-squared test, Analysis of covariance, Discourse analysis, Storytelling, Case-control method, Statistics, Vocabulary, Short-term memory, Data analysis software, Psychological tests, Child behavior, Cognitive flexibility, Inter-observer reliability, Evaluation, Children
Geographic Terms: Greece
Abstract: Silent pauses may serve communicative purposes such as demarcating boundaries between discourse units in language production. Previous research has shown that autistic children differ in their pausing behavior from typically-developing (TD) peers, however, the factors behind this difference remain underexplored. The current study was aimed at comparing the use of silent pauses in the narrative production of autistic children and age-matched TD children, and also to identify possible relations between pausing behavior and the children's language and executive function abilities. According to the study's findings, the autistic children did not differ from their TD peers in the use of grammatical pauses, however, the former tended to produce significantly less syntactically complex narratives than the TD group, which increased the likelihood that the autistic group would pause appropriately at phrasal boundaries. Though we have found low rates of ungrammatical silent pauses and omitted pauses in obligatory discourse contexts across both groups, autistic children with lower cognitive flexibility tended to use more ungrammatical pauses than their peers with higher cognitive flexibility scores. Also, the autistic group tended to omit obligatory silent pauses more often as their narration became more complex. The results demonstrate that syntactic complexity in narrative production modulated autistic children's pausing behavior, and that structurally simple narrations boosted the autistic group's appropriate use of grammatical pauses. The overall findings also demonstrate the importance of studying silent pauses in the narrative discourse of autistic children, and also highlight the links between silent pauses and the children's syntactic and cognitive skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: What Silent Pauses Can 'Tell' Us About the Storytelling Skills of Autistic Children: Relations Between Pausing, Language Skills and Executive Functions.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Autism+%26+Developmental+Disorders%22">Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders</searchLink>. Dec2025, Vol. 55 Issue 12, p4171-4184. 14p.
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  Data: Silent pauses may serve communicative purposes such as demarcating boundaries between discourse units in language production. Previous research has shown that autistic children differ in their pausing behavior from typically-developing (TD) peers, however, the factors behind this difference remain underexplored. The current study was aimed at comparing the use of silent pauses in the narrative production of autistic children and age-matched TD children, and also to identify possible relations between pausing behavior and the children's language and executive function abilities. According to the study's findings, the autistic children did not differ from their TD peers in the use of grammatical pauses, however, the former tended to produce significantly less syntactically complex narratives than the TD group, which increased the likelihood that the autistic group would pause appropriately at phrasal boundaries. Though we have found low rates of ungrammatical silent pauses and omitted pauses in obligatory discourse contexts across both groups, autistic children with lower cognitive flexibility tended to use more ungrammatical pauses than their peers with higher cognitive flexibility scores. Also, the autistic group tended to omit obligatory silent pauses more often as their narration became more complex. The results demonstrate that syntactic complexity in narrative production modulated autistic children's pausing behavior, and that structurally simple narrations boosted the autistic group's appropriate use of grammatical pauses. The overall findings also demonstrate the importance of studying silent pauses in the narrative discourse of autistic children, and also highlight the links between silent pauses and the children's syntactic and cognitive skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=pbh&AN=189168309
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        Value: 10.1007/s10803-024-06523-y
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      – SubjectFull: Speech evaluation
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      – SubjectFull: Executive function
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      – SubjectFull: Affinity groups
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      – SubjectFull: Chi-squared test
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      – SubjectFull: Analysis of covariance
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