Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Why Do Kids with Autism Have Difficulty Interpreting Tone of Voice?

Autistic spectrum disorders are a type of developmental disorder in the brain that affects nearly one every hundred children. These are characterized by a wide range of conditions, but the most common is an inability to navigate social interactions normally.

There're no unique biological indicators of autism. Poor social and communication skills in children often prompt parents to get them tested for autism. Voices are a particularly rich indicator of social differences in autism.

Children with autistic spectrum disorders often have a distinctive speech pattern. Some people may speak at an increased volume, while others may speak in a flat monotone or with unusual modulation (emphasizing certain words or phrases).

Gaining a better understanding of autism can help us understand the needs of autistic children better. (Image via Pexels/Mikhail Nilov)

The tone of voice can also have a significant impact on how a child with autism interprets an emotion. However, this is not necessarily because autistic people have difficulty expressing themselves verbally; rather, the difficulty lies in their inability to grasp the ways in which tone alters the meaning of words.

Children with autistic spectrum disorders may be unable to understand the difference between two similar sounding phrases that emphasize different words. For example, the difference between "I didn't say he stole the money" and "I didn't say he stole the money" may not be completely clear to children suffering from autistic spectrum disorders.

Learn more about what is autism spectrum disorder.

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Autistic Spectrum Disorder: New Research Uncovered

It has been known for some time that the superior temporal cortex is responsible for identifying the speaker's tone of voice and processing reactions to it.

However, for many people with autistic spectrum disorders, including both children and adults, it can be extremely difficult to understand the feelings conveyed by the words spoken to them. That has flummoxed experts for some time, but a new fact has come to light which can explain the same.

This lack of comprehension has been linked to an issue with brain connectivity in a new study published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. Researchers hope that one day it may lead to the development of therapies that will help children with autism improve their social skills.

Newly uncovered research may help experts chalk out better therapies for autistic children .(Image via Pexels/Rodnae Productions)

Although it's common knowledge that autistic people have trouble picking up on subtle hints of emotion, the root of the problem has eluded researchers.

People with autistic spectrum disorders go through an increased sensitivity to sensory inputs like light, touch, and sound, which is a hallmark of autism. That has cast a question over whether communication issues arise due to an inability to process too much information at once or a misinterpretation of the received information.

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the study, which involved 43 children (both with and without autism) between the ages of 7 and 12, looked at how the participants' brains responded to words spoken with various intonations.

While the 'hearing' portion of the brain reacted similarly in both neurotypical children and ones with autism, Daniel Abrams, a co-author of the study, noted that "what was atypical in kids with autism was the way this signal was getting to a crucial social brain region" (according to Stanford Medicine).

With the right understanding and guidance, there's no reason why an autistic child cannot progress like a neurotypical child. (Image via Pexels/Tara Winstead)

Temporoparietal junction (TPJ), a region of the brain that aids in understanding others' mental states, is the area that Abrams was referring to.

According to research, children with autistic spectrum disorders have a stronger connection between the TPJ and the brain's "hearing" centre than kids without autism (Stanford Medicine).

According to Abrams, maintaining a delicate balance when it comes to brain connectivity is important. Issues like the one described here frequently occur when the brain's different regions are "under- or over-connected."

That may be the explanation for why children with autism face difficulty in interpreting the tone of voice.

Meanwhile, check out these K-dramas that depict autistic characters sensitively.