Pathways to meaning: Written and spoken word priming in children with ASD versus typically developing peers Keely Harper-Hill a,b, *, David Copland a,b,1,2 , Wendy Arnott b,2 a University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research, Level 3, Bldg 71/918 RBWH Campus, Brisbane, Qld 4029, Australia b University of Queensland, School of Health and Rehabilitation, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia 1. Introduction To meet the needs of an individual child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it is frequently necessary to combine several strategies within any one intervention. One such strategy, the use of visual supports, is recommended and regarded as best practice (Howlin, 1997; Mirenda, 2001; Prior et al., 2011; Quill, 1997; Roberts & Prior, 2006). Whilst the use of visual supports is strongly advocated, the mechanisms underpinning its effectiveness are not well understood. To date, much of the research into visual supports has investigated the effectiveness of these strategies in facilitating skill development and the completion of activities (e.g. Breslin & Rudisill, 2011; Dettmer, Simpson, Smith Myles, & Ganz, 2000; Dooley, Wilczenski, & Torem, 2001; Nelson, McDonnell, Johnston, Crompton, & Nelson, 2007; Thiemann & Goldstein, 2004). Whilst such studies provide detailed information on the implementation of the visual support, the visual supports under investigation are frequently embedded within other support systems, for example timetables or more structured interaction dyads (e.g. Dooley et al., 2001; Thiemann & Goldstein, 2004), which then confound interpretation of the results. Clinical rationales for the use of visual supports to facilitate task performance largely rest on the cognitive profile of individuals with ASD (e.g. Forsey, Bird, & Bedrosian, 1996; Hodgdon, 1999; Nelson et al., 2007; Rao & Gagie, 2006; Spears & Turner, 2011). However, it remains unclear whether visual supports, and specifically written words, facilitate more efficient Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders 8 (2014) 1351–1363 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 10 February 2014 Received in revised form 1 July 2014 Accepted 4 July 2014 Available online 31 July 2014 Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder Semantics Lexical access Modality Visual support A B S T R A C T Visual supports are widely utilized with children on the autism spectrum, however, the effect of visual versus auditory modality on language comprehension has not been directly investigated. To address this issue, we utilized a semantic priming paradigm in two experiments with 18 children with ASD and no language impairment and 14 children with typical development. In the first, cross-modal experiment with a spoken word prime, no priming effect was identified. In the second, uni-modal written word prime experiment, a three-way interaction was identified. Subsequent analysis revealed that priming occurred only in the younger participants with ASD. These results are discussed in terms of the cross- and uni-modal demands of the two experiments and in light of lexical processing of spoken and written words within a developmental framework. ß 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research, Level 3, Bldg 71/918 RBWH Campus, Herston, Qld 4029, Australia. Tel.: +61 7 3346 6110; fax: +61 7 3346 5599. E-mail addresses: keely.harperhill@qut.edu.au (K. Harper-Hill), d.copland@uq.edu.au (D. Copland), w.arnott@uq.edu.au (W. Arnott). 1 Tel.: +61 7 3346 6110; fax: +61 7 3346 5599. 2 Tel.: +61 7 3365 9725; fax: +61 7 3365 1877. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders Jo ur n al h o mep ag e: ht tp ://ees.els evier.c o m/RA SD/d efau lt.asp http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2014.07.004 1750-9467/ß 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.