Responses to Wh-, Yes/No-, A-not-A, and choice questions in Taiwanese children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder.

The present study investigated the hypothesis that children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) have a greater difficulty in responding to Wh- than Yes/No questions across languages. Conversations between Taiwanese children and their mothers were investigated and the children's response adequacy to maternal questions in a semi-structured setting were examined. Twelve Taiwanese children with HFASD, ranging in age from 7.1 to 14.9 years old, were compared with 12 typically developing (TD) children matched on age, sex, IQ and mean length of utterance in syllable (MLUs). Compared to TD children, HFASD children produced more inadequate or inappropriate responses to Wh- and Yes/No questions than to A-not-A and Choice questions. Taiwanese HFASD children share a greater difficulty in responding to maternal Wh-questions with their Japanese counterparts and do not show a relative ease in responding to Yes/No questions, while A-not-A and Choice questions were easier to respond to for the Taiwanese children.