The goal of our study is to reveal verbal and non-verbal information in speech features of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). 30 children with ASD aged 5–14 years and 160 typically developing (TD) coevals were participants in the study. ASD participants were divided into groups according to the presence of development reversals (ASD-1) and developmental risk diagnosed at the birth (ASD-2). The listeners (n = 220 adults) recognized the word’s meaning, correspondence of the repetition word’s meaning and intonation contour to the sample, age, and gender of ASD child’s speech with less probability vs. TD children. Perception data are confirmed by acoustic features. We found significant differences in pitch values, vowels formants frequency and energy between ASD groups and between ASD and TD in spontaneous speech and repetition words. Pitch values of stress vowels were significantly higher in spontaneous speech vs. repetition words for ASD-1 children, ASD-2, and TD children aged 7–12 years. Pitch values in the spontaneous speech of the ASD-1 were higher than in the ASD-2 children. The coarticulation effect was shown for ASD and TD repetition words. Age dynamic of ASD children acoustic features indicated mastering of clear articulation.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSpeech and Computer - 19th International Conference, SPECOM 2017, Proceedings
EditorsAlexey Karpov, Iosif Mporas, Rodmonga Potapova
PublisherSpringer Nature
Pages602-612
Number of pages11
ISBN (Print)9783319664286
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2017
Event19th International Conference on Speech and Computer - Hatfield, United Kingdom
Duration: 11 Sep 201715 Sep 2017

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume10458 LNAI
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference19th International Conference on Speech and Computer
Abbreviated titleSPECOM 2017
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityHatfield
Period11/09/1715/09/17

    Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • Computer Science(all)

    Research areas

  • Acoustic features, Autism spectrum disorders, Children, Repetition speech, Speech perception, Spontaneous speech, Typically developing

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