Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience difficulty using and interpreting pronouns. While prior work examined referential language primarily in English (overt-subject), less is known about "pro-drop" languages where subject pronouns are optional. This study investigates personal pronoun and name use in Italian parental speech to autistic children compared with typically developing (TD) peers. Transcripts from 10-minute mother–child free-play were analyzed across 70 dyads. We found that mothers of autistic children used the first-person pronoun io (I) as well as the child's name, significantly more frequently than mothers of TD children. However, there was no consistent preference for using names versus the second-person pronoun tu (you) to address the child. Within ASD group, autism severity did not predict pronoun or name use. Increased usage of (optional) subject pronouns and names might reflect a compensatory strategy in parental speech to autistic children, to enhance clarity and avoid referential ambiguity.