A comparison of speaking and mute individuals with autism and autistic-like conditions on the Autism Behavior Checklist.

The item, total, and subscale scores on the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) were compared for 155 mute and 335 speaking individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Although no significant difference was observed between the groups on the ABC total score, the mute group demonstrated significantly more pathology on 21 of 57 items and 3 of 5 subscales. The speaking group obtained significantly higher scores on only 8 items and 1 subscale (Language). The appropriateness of providing greater pathology scores on expressive language items to speaking, rather than to mute, individuals is called into question. The authors speculate whether the expressive language items are weighted too heavily, in regard both to the Language subscale and to the ABC total score. If the expressive language items were removed, the mute group would have significantly higher ABC total scores and therefore a greater degree of autism severity.