Praxis SLP Licensure Exam

A young child diagnosed with ASD shows syntactical impairments. Which deficit is MOST LIKELY exhibited?

1. The child cannot establish joint attention

2. The child adds extraneous speech sounds

3. The child omits past tense markers

4. The child speaks telegraphically

The correct answer is: The child speaks telegraphically

The identification of telegraphic speech is significant in the context of a young child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who exhibits syntactical impairments. Telegraphic speech refers to the production of speech that uses only the essential content words, omitting function words, grammatical markers, and often auxiliary verbs. This reflects a clear syntactical deficit, as the child struggles to use the more complex structures of language that involve grammatical elements necessary for conveying complete thoughts. In children with ASD, this tendency toward telegraphic speech can often manifest as a way to communicate needs or thoughts in a simplified manner without the full grammatical structure that would typically be expected for their age. It indicates that while the child has the ability to express basic concepts, the complexity of their syntax does not align with typical developmental milestones. On the other hand, the other options, while potentially relevant to language development or communication in children with ASD, do not directly correspond to syntactical impairments. Joint attention is more closely related to social communication behaviors, extraneous speech sounds pertain more to phonological issues, and omitting past tense markers, while a syntactical issue, is less representative of the broader pattern of communication seen in the context of telegraphic speech. Therefore, the identification of a