LAUSR

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction. Speech is an important form of social communication. Prosody (e.g. vocal pitch, rhythm, etc.), one aspect of the speech signal, is crucial for ensuring information about the emotionality, excitability, and intent of the speaker, is accurately expressed. The objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of how auditory information is used to regulate speech prosody in autistic and non‐autistic children, while exploring the relationship between the prosodic control of speech and social competence. Eighty autistic (M = 8.48 years, SD = 2.55) and non‐autistic (M = 7.36 years, SD = 2.51) participants produced vocalizations while exposed to unaltered and frequency altered auditory feedback. The parent‐report Multidimensional Social Competence Scale was used to assess social competence, while the Autism‐Spectrum Quotient and the Autism Spectrum Rating Scales were used to assess autism characteristics. Results indicate that vocal response magnitudes and vocal variability were similar across autistic and non‐autistic children. However, autistic children produced significantly faster responses to the auditory feedback manipulation. Hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that these faster responses were significantly associated with poorer parent‐rated social competence and higher autism characteristics. These findings suggest that prosodic speech production differences are present in at least a subgroup of autistic children. These results represent a key step in understanding how atypicalities in the mechanisms supporting speech production may manifest in social‐communication deficits, as well as broader social competence, and vice versa. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1880‐1892. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC