Elsevier

Brain and Language

Volume 70, Issue 1, 15 October 1999, Pages 29-69
Brain and Language

Regular Article
Communicative Intentions and Language: Evidence from Right-Hemisphere Damage and Autism

https://doi.org/10.1006/brln.1999.2139Get rights and content

Abstract

In this review article, it is argued that the wide range of communicative deficits that have been noted in both individuals with damage to the right cerebral hemisphere (RHD) and high-functioning individuals with autism may stem from difficulties appreciating the importance of their interlocutor's communicative intentions (CIs). It is also argued that the abnormal semantic development noted in infants with RHD and autism may be related to difficulties in appreciating CIs as well. Finally, it is suggested that the CIs hypothesis may provide an avenue for integrating a number of theoretical suggestions that have been made regarding the right hemisphere's contributions to communicative competence.

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    Thanks go to Dare Baldwin, Kate Harkness, Don Tucker, Helen Neville, and Mike Posner for helpful comments and suggestions concerning the manuscript.

    Please address correspondence and reprint requests to Mark Sabbagh, Developmental Psychology, University of Michigan, 525 E. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48104. E-mail: [email protected].

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