According to the DSM-5, social communication impairments are one of two core diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), resulting in reduced ability to function independently. The goal of this panel is to show how basic research findings on communication deficits in ASD can improve the assessment and treatment of these impairments. This panel will present research on several aspects of abnormal communication in ASD, with particular attention to implications for diagnosis and treatment. One strand of research will focus on the use of vivo brain imaging techniques to reveal biomarkers of abnormal auditory processing, emotional language comprehension, and temporal gesture-speech integration. The ability of these biomarkers to improve impairment detection, individual stratification, and assessment of treatment efficacy will be discussed. Another strand of research will demonstrate the efficacy of a brief, low-cost intervention providing explicit instruction in prosodic phrasing. The implications of this intervention for theories of impaired communication in ASD will be discussed. A discussant who conducts research on communication in ASD and advises an organization providing evidence-based treatments for communication deficits in ASD will enrich discussion of the translational significance of the research presented in this panel, ensuring its informativeness for scientists, practitioners, and stakeholders alike.