Social language patterns in autistic females and their family members
Official title: Defining the female pragmatic language profile of autism and the broad autism phenotype
Funded at Northwestern University · NIH-11257274 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how girls and women with autism and their close relatives use social language in everyday conversations.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Northwestern University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chicago, United States) |
| Project start | January 8, 2025 |
| Project end | December 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $675,624 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DC022484-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11257274 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are girls and women with autism and their first-degree relatives (parents, siblings), including children and teens who can take part in language tasks.
✕Less likely to help
People without autism or without willing family members, or those unwilling to take part in recorded language tasks or share genetic/family history, are unlikely to benefit directly from participation.
What this research studies
Researchers will study autistic females and their first-degree relatives to map social communication (pragmatic language) across conversation and storytelling. The team will use deep phenotyping methods including detailed language tests, recorded conversations and narratives, and family history and genetic information to find patterns that run in families. By comparing females with males and unaffected relatives, they aim to identify sex-specific features of pragmatic language that current tests may miss. Participation may involve visits to Northwestern or remote assessments and sharing language samples and medical and family history.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help clinicians recognize autism in females sooner and shape communication supports tailored to girls and women.
How similar studies have gone: Past studies show pragmatic language differences and broad autism phenotype traits run in families, but focused work on female-specific pragmatic profiles is limited, so this builds on known findings while addressing a novel gap.
Where this research is happening
-
Northwestern University
Chicago, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Losh, Molly C — Northwestern University
- Study coordinator: Losh, Molly C
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.