Our methods
Our methods
Studying language comprehension in
autistic minimal, unreliable and non-speakers
Around 30% of autistic people have no or minimal spoken language. Despite a dramatic rise in global funding for autism research over the past few decades, autistic non-speakers have remained chronically under-researched. In particular, there has been little empirical work studying language comprehension (i.e., understanding of language) in these individuals.
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The aim of our research programme is to address this gap by developing novel, gentle, and accessible brain imaging methods for studying language comprehension in autistic minimal, unreliable and non-speakers.​ ​​
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Decoding individual speech processing "brain fingerprints"
Thanks to funding from the BRAIN foundation, in collaboration with Dr. Laura Gwilliams from Stanford University, we are starting a new study in 2026! ​​
​Using a brain recording tool called 'magnetoencephalography' (MEG), we will record from people's brains as they listen to an audiobook. We will use advanced machine learning to understand how each person processes different aspects of natural language, from speech sounds and individual words, through to meanings and grammar.​​
We hope this will give us a new method to quantify each individual non-speaker’s profile of strength and challenge in speech processing and a much more detailed understanding of speech comprehension in non-speaking autism than exists currently.
If you are a non-speaker in the UK and you would like to help us with this study, please get in touch!
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You can also follow this link to download a spelling "lesson" about the study.
Previous study: Brain signatures of language comprehension
The aim of this study was to develop new methods to detect 'brain signatures' of language comprehension in autistic non- and minimal speakers.
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We used a brain recording tool called 'electroencephalography' (EEG) to record participants' brain activity as they listen to a series of spoken sentences.
Some of the sentences ended in a word that is congruent with the rest of the sentence (e.g., The clouds are high up in the sky), and some end in a word that does not make sense in the sentence (e.g., The clouds are high up in the door).​
​​A difference in the brain response between the congruent and incongruent sentences would offer neural evidence of language comprehension.
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We have finished data collection on this study, are analysing the data and look forward to sharing the results soon.​
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Watch this video by former Woolgar Lab researcher, Dr Selene Petit, to learn more about the aims of this study.
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Key Publication: Petit et al. 2020
Get in touch!
We would love to hear from autistic non- and minimal-speakers, their families, practitioners and other stakeholders.
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Please complete the form below if you would like to join our mailing list, find out more about our research, participate in our research, ask a question, or offer suggestions for future research studies.​
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If you recently heard us present about our work and have comments or suggestions, please put them in the comment box below. Thank you!