Abstract
Asperger syndrome (AS) is a pervasive developmental disorder recently introduced as a new diagnostic category in the ICD-10 and the DSM-IV. Along with motor clumsiness, pedantic speech has been proposed as a clinical feature of AS. However, few attempts have been made to define and measure this symptom. We studied 17 patients with AS (ICD-10; 14 male, 3 female; mean age 16.4 years, mean full-scale IQ 97) and compared them with a control group of 13 patients with normal-intelligence autism or high-functioning autism (HFA) (ICD-10/DSM-III-R; 12 male, 1 female; mean age 15.5 years, mean full-scale IQ 81.2). An operational definition of pedantic speech was formulated and a rating scale devised. 13 (76%) of the AS patients were rated as pedantic compared to 4 (31%) of the HFA group (χ 2=6.3;p=.01). Results suggest that pedantic speech is common in AS and may help differentiate AS from high-functioning autism.
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The authors acknowledge the contribution of Michael Clark, Professor of Speech Pathology, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan; Cynthia McLemore, Stanford University, California; Tami Benedek, speech pathologist, University of Michigan; and John F. Greden. Elizabeth Hill assisted with the data analysis. Our thanks also to Sir Michael Rutter, who commented on an earlier draft. This paper was completed, in part, while the first author was on an academic visit to the Institute of Psychiatry, London, sponsored by a University of Michigan OVPAMA faculty award.
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Ghaziuddin, M., Gerstein, L. Pedantic speaking style differentiates asperger syndrome from high-functioning autism. J Autism Dev Disord 26, 585–595 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02172348
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02172348