Person-centred (deictic) expressions and autism

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Developmental Psychology
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Research

Background:

• Deictic expressions are crucial for communication, referring to person, place, and time.
• Understanding deixis is essential for social interaction and language development.
• Previous research suggests potential challenges in pragmatic language skills in autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the production and comprehension of deictic expressions in children with autism.
• To examine the understanding of non-verbal gestural deixis, specifically head nods, in children with autism.
• To identify atypical patterns in deictic term usage and gestural comprehension in this population.

Main Methods:

• Semi-structured tests were used to assess both verbal and non-verbal deictic skills.
• Study 1 focused on spontaneous production of deictic terms and gestures.
• Study 2 assessed comprehension of contrastive deictic terms and head nods.

Main Results:

• Children with autism produced deictic terms but sometimes used them atypically (e.g., referring to distant locations with 'this').
• Atypical pointing gestures, precisely aligned with the eye, were observed in some autistic participants.
• Participants with autism showed lower accuracy in responding to instructions with contrastive deictic terms and indicative head nods.

Conclusions:

• Children with autism exhibit specific difficulties in both producing and comprehending verbal and non-verbal deictic expressions.
• Atypical use of spatial terms and gestures highlights unique challenges in pragmatic language for this group.
• These findings underscore the importance of targeting deictic skills in interventions for children with autism.