Research on accent and speech patterns within the spectrum

Post Reply New Topic

The Linguistics Department at the University of Colorado Boulder is conducting a study on the adoption of different accents by autistic individuals. We are seeking participants who are autistic and speak an “unusual,” “non-local,” or “foreign” accent or dialect relative to where they grew up. Participants must also be native English speakers and over the age of 18.

The study will consist of a 30-60 minute interview conducted either in person or via Zoom, which will be audio and video recorded. Participants will receive a $100 gift card for your participation in the project on completion of the interview.

If you’re interested or have any questions about the study, please email [email protected]

So is this like how American kids are developing British accents from cartoons? Not just autistic kids either.

This study is in regards to how speech is related to autism. Someone picking up the accents of characters on a show they enjoy is one example, another could be using a more formal way of talking, or having what is seen as an unusual intonation for most other native speakers.

Are there possibly motor elements to autistic speech? For example, slurring one's words or having pronunciation issues when experiencing overload?

When I was 8, my parents sent me to live on a farm for two weeks. I had a noticeable accent copied from the family there by the time I returned, but it faded quickly. I'm also reasonably good at accents for jokes, and in a foreign language at school, but nothing sticks.