Sound Response May Explain Language Problems in Autism

Children with autism process sounds a split second slower than typically developing children, according to a new study that measured the magnetic fields emitted from the children's brains.Although preliminary, the findings may partly explain the language and communication problems that burden so many with the disorder, the researchers say."The findings [show a delay of] only fractions of a second, but those really matter in spoken speech," says Timothy Roberts, vice chair of radiology research at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who presented the data last week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago. "Our thought here is these delays kind of cascade through later and later processing," Roberts says.Read more at...SFARI, December 2008.