Evaluating Interactive Language for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Different Contexts
Jinhuan Yang1, Wentao Gu1,2, Chen Feng3
1School of Chinese Language and Literature, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China.
Children (Basel, Switzerland)
|June 24, 2022
Summary
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show pragmatic language skill deficits, not structural ones. Context significantly impacts their language use, and maternal input is crucial for their pragmatic development.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Background:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined by social communication challenges, including interactive language impairments.
- Understanding the specific language deficits and their causes in children with ASD across various contexts remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate structural language and pragmatic skills in children with ASD across play, drawing, reading, and free talking contexts.
- To explore the relationship between maternal language input and children's language output in ASD.
Main Methods:
- Examined structural language (vocabulary, utterance complexity) and pragmatic skills (turn-taking) in children with ASD.
- Analyzed language use in four distinct interactive contexts.
- Utilized Spearman's rank correlation to assess maternal input and child language output relationships.
Main Results:
- Children with ASD demonstrated pragmatic skill deficits but not structural language impairments.
- Context significantly influenced language production: reading boosted vocabulary diversity, playing/drawing enhanced utterance complexity, and free talking increased conversational turns.
- A notable correlation was found between maternal pragmatic input (e.g., total turns, total words) and children's language output.
Conclusions:
- Pragmatic skill assessment is essential for evaluating children with suspected ASD.
- Contextual factors must be considered when assessing pragmatic development in ASD.
- Maternal language input plays a vital role in shaping language use in children with ASD.
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