Formal Language Use as a Diagnostic Indicator of Autism in Arabic-Speaking Children: A Kuwaiti Cohort Study

This study examined whether young Arabic-speaking children's preference for Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) over colloquial dialects serves as a diagnostic marker for autism spectrum disorder in diglossic communities. Among 4-6-year-olds in Kuwait, MSA use predicted autism diagnosis with 86% probability and correlated with ASD severity, though not with parental education or MSA exposure, suggesting it may help identify verbally fluent autistic children often missed in diagnosis.