Conversational characteristics of children with fragile X syndrome: tangential language.

The production of tangential language during conversations was studied with people who have fragile X syndrome, autistic disorder, or mental retardation not caused by fragile X. Tangential language was found to be more prevalent among those with fragile X, compared to the control groups, especially within unsolicited comments. These results support our hypothesis that the tangential language seen in fragile X is not the result of either general developmental delay or undiagnosed autistic disorder. We offer a possible interpretation of these results based upon such phenotypic characteristics as social anxiety, hypersensitivity to social and sensory stimuli, and inhibitory control deficits.