• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.192-196
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• 2017

Social (pragmatic) communication disorder (SCD) is a new diagnosis included under communication disorders in the neurodevelopmental disorders section of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5. SCD is defined as a primary deficit in the social use of nonverbal and verbal communication. SCD has very much in common with pragmatic language impairment, which is characterized by difficulties in understanding and using language in context and following the social rules of language, despite relative strengths in word knowledge and grammar. SCD and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are similar in that they both involve deficits in social communication skills, however individuals with SCD do not demonstrate restricted interests, repetitive behaviors, insistence on sameness, or sensory abnormalities. It is essential to rule out a diagnosis of ASD by verifying the lack of these additional symptoms, current or past. The criteria for SCD are qualitatively different from those of ASD and are not equivalent to those of mild ASD. It is clinically important that SCD should be differentiated from high-functioning ASD (such as Asperger syndrome) and nonverbal learning disabilities. The ultimate goals are the refinement of the conceptualization, development and validation of assessment tools and interventions, and obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the shared and unique etiologic factors for SCD in relation to those of other neurodevelopmental disorders.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.58-67
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• 2016

Pragmatic language impairment is closely related to the executive function difficulties in patients with acquired brain injury(ABI). This study was designed to explore the correlation between two domains following ABI. Thirty-five participants with ABI were grouped into 21 aphasics due to stroke and 14 TBIs. All subjects were over 55 years old. Measures of two domains were administered to all participants. As a result, figurative language comprehension and functional/symbolic language were significantly correlated with the activating task in aphasic group. All tasks were significantly correlated in TBI group. Aphasic patients' figurative language comprehension significantly predicted the activating task. In TBI group, figurative language expression and functional/symbolic language were the predictable tasks of planning and activating, respectively. Current study demonstrates the evidence of a significant association between pragmatic language and executive function, and provides appropriate tasks used for cognitive-linguistic intervention of individuals with ABI.