The researchers in this collaboration of 12 research teams are committed to cross-linguistic acquisition research in ASD and other impaired populations with a strong theoretical-linguistic basis using off-line and on-line methods for language comprehension and production tasks as well as cognitive tasks (Intelligence, Executive Function, Theory of Mind, Coherence). Sophisticated theory identifies pertinent research questions, and moreover, determines the basis of our experimental designs. The comparison of language abilities with other cognitive abilities will provide a more refined picture of human cognition. We believe that the combination of our theoretical approach and our more applied aims to pinpoint underlying causes of language inabilities in ASD is the way forward in the heterogeneous field of ASD research.
Reconstituting past and present connections in a more formal collaboration, the present application brings together teams that have worked together previously in various formal and informal combinations:
- Most network members collaborated within COST Actions A33 (Cross-linguistically robust stages of children’s linguistic performance) and IS0804 (Bilingual SLI)
- Kissine and Noveck: F.R.S.FNRS and ARC scheme Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles
- Prévost, Tuller and Adani: Proposal ANR/DFG
- Marinis and Guasti: Proposal Marie Curie – ITN
- Terzi and Marinis (Arhimedes III (European Social Fund and National Resources); Latsis Foundation
- Schaeffer, Marinis, Perovic, Prévost, Tuller and Adani: Informal network and meetings on language abilities in autism
Besides enabling us to compare the language abilities of children with ASD in different languages using comparable methods, joining our complementary expertises on both linguistic-theoretical phenomena and methods will have the important added value of answering many different sub-questions relating to different parts and types of language (in)abilities and different types of autism (e.g., high vs. low-functioning).
The teams of the network members listed below include post-docs, PhD candidates and MA students, who are also involved in our network activities. Each team contributes their specialized theoretical linguistic knowledge and shares existing and novel experimental designs related to their specific expertise. The descriptions of the research teams outside The Netherlands are listed in alphabetical order of the team heads’ names.
University of Konstanz / University of Reading
Institut des Sciences Cognitives