Table 8 Case study analysis: identifying language deficits in an examiner-patient dialogue

E: Okay. So, do you have some friends?

P: Uh, do I have some \({{\bf{friends?}}}_{{{\rm{F}}}_{1}}\)

E: Um-hum.

P: Well, pretty \({{\bf{much}}}_{{{\rm{F}}}_{10}}\), three of them from peers.

E: Three of them from here?

P: Um-hum.

E: Okay. Can you tell me a little bit about them?

P: Well, they’re kind of living near, they kind of live near \({\text{her}}_{{{\rm{F}}}_{3}}\) farther from here.

E: They’re further from here? What do they like?

P: What do they \({{\rm{like?}}}_{{{\rm{F}}}_{1}}\) They’re kind of energetic, just like me. Cool.

E: Um, and what do you guys like to do together? Man, we like movies and stuff.

P: And you’ve got to know them through peers.

...

E: And, but you said you’d go, you’d like to go to movies and stuff as well. Do you go to movies with them, or?

P: We use \({\text{gas movies}}_{{{\rm{F}}}_{9}}\).

E: Oh, you talk about it?

P: Yeah.

E: Okay. And are there people outside of peers that you’re friends with, or?

P: You mean, uh, outside of \({\text{peers}}_{{{\rm{F}}}_{1}}\)?

...

P: Crazy, crowded, crooked. One of those years people.

E: Oh.

P: They triggered the trip, pregnant sound \({\text{effects}}_{{{\rm{F}}}_{9}}\).

E: Oh, yeah.

P: When they asked about dating. Um What, where do you, uh, want to live when you get older

E: face?

P: I want to live in a lounge and dirty autistic \({\text{matching}}_{{{\rm{F}}}_{2}}\). You know, you can zillion blocks \({\text{matching}}_{{{\rm{F}}}_{10}}\).

E: And who do you think you would like to live with, with your family or roommates or by yourself?

P: I want to live with my family there. Okay

...

Extracted features based on ChatGPT response

Echoic repetition (F₁): When the examiner first asked the patient whether they have some friends, the patient echoed the question back at the examiner before answering. In subsequent interactions, the patient frequently mimics the examiner’s questions verbatim before answering.

Unconventional content (F₂): The patient refers to living in “a lounge and dirty autistic matching” rather than using any conventional descriptions for living spaces. Similarly, the phrase “zillion blocks matching" has an unusual content.

Pronoun displacement (F₃): The patient referred to his own house as “her".

Stereotyped media quoting (F₉): The patient quoted “gas movies” and “triggered the trip, pregnant sound effects”, which seems to be quoted from an external media source.

Clichéd verbal substitutions (F₁₀): The patient uses clichéd expressions like “well, pretty much” instead of giving direct responses.