Editing Asperger syndrome (section)

=== Speech and language ===
Although individuals with Asperger syndrome acquire language skills without significant general delay and their speech typically lacks significant abnormalities, [[language acquisition]] and use is often atypical.<ref name=Klin /> Abnormalities include verbosity; abrupt transitions; literal interpretations and miscomprehension of nuance; use of metaphor meaningful only to the speaker; [[Auditory processing disorder|auditory perception deficits]]; unusually [[Pedantic speech|pedantic]], [[Register (sociolinguistics)|formal]], or [[Idiosyncrasy#Psychiatry and psychology|idiosyncratic]] speech; and oddities in loudness, [[Tone (linguistics)|pitch]], [[Intonation (linguistics)|intonation]], [[Prosody (linguistics)|prosody]], and rhythm.<ref name=McPart2006 /> [[Echolalia]] has also been observed in individuals with AS.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Frith U | s2cid = 978233 | title = Social communication and its disorder in autism and Asperger syndrome | journal = Journal of Psychopharmacology | volume = 10 | issue = 1 | pages = 48–53 | date = January 1996 | pmid = 22302727 | doi = 10.1177/026988119601000108}}</ref>

Three aspects of communication patterns are of clinical interest: poor prosody, [[Tangential speech|tangential]] and [[circumstantial speech]], and marked verbosity. Although [[inflection]] and intonation may be less rigid or monotonic than in classic autism, people with AS often have a limited range of intonation: speech may be unusually fast, jerky, or loud. Speech may convey a sense of [[Coherence (linguistics)|incoherence]]; the conversational style often includes monologues about topics that bore the listener, fails to provide [[Context (language use)|context]] for comments, or fails to suppress internal thoughts. Individuals with AS may fail to detect whether the listener is interested or engaged in the conversation. The speaker's conclusion or point may never be made, and attempts by the listener to elaborate on the speech's content or logic, or to shift to related topics, are often unsuccessful.<ref name=Klin />

Children with AS may have a sophisticated vocabulary at a young age and such children have often been colloquially called "little professors"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000618mag-asperger.html|title=The Little Professor Syndrome | vauthors = Osborne L |work=The New York Times|date=18 June 2000}}</ref> but have difficulty understanding [[figurative language]] and tend to use language literally.<ref name=McPart2006 /> Children with AS appear to have particular weaknesses in areas of nonliteral language that include [[humor]], [[irony]], [[teasing]], and [[sarcasm]]. Although individuals with AS usually understand the cognitive basis of humor, they seem to lack understanding of the intent of humor to share the enjoyment with others.<ref name=Kasari /> Despite strong evidence of impaired humor appreciation, anecdotal reports of humor in individuals with AS seem to challenge some psychological theories of AS and autism.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lyons V, Fitzgerald M | s2cid = 22187553 | title = Humor in autism and Asperger syndrome | journal = Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders | volume = 34 | issue = 5 | pages = 521–31 | date = October 2004 | pmid = 15628606 | doi = 10.1007/s10803-004-2547-8}}</ref>