Can Chinese negative structures distinguish between children with developmental language disorder and children with autism spectrum disorder plus language impairment?

A heated debate has been ongoing regarding the potential overlap in language disorders exhibited by children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and those with autism spectrum disorder plus language impairment (ALI). This study compared the production of Chinese negative structures by these two populations, alongside typically developing age-matched (TDA) children. Nineteen children with DLD, thirty-two children with ALI and twenty-eight TDA children participated in a video task and a game task on two Chinese negative structures (Structure B: V-bu-C; Structure M: mei-V-C). The results reflected a general resemblance between the two groups (DLD vs. ALI) in their most prevalent non-target responses in the two structures. However, children with ALI evinced impairment in both structures, while children with DLD only presented significantly lower-than-TDA performance in Structure M. Moreover, only the ALI group performed better in the game task than in the video task when producing Structure B, and the DLD and ALI groups produced some distinctive non-target responses. The findings indicate that the DLD group’s poor performance may be related to the impairment in the assignment of negative scope and the ALI’s difficulties may be attributed to the deficits in pragmatics. This study supports the idea that while children with DLD and children with ALI share some common symptoms in language, their language difficulties may result from different impairments. Labels should not be attached to children without an in-depth analysis of children’s responses in language assessments.