The Comprehension of Structured and Non-Structured Meronymy by Arabic-Speaking Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder...

This study explores the comprehension of four meronymy types: Component Meronymy (CM), Member Meronymy (MM), Substance Meronymy (SM) and Portion Meronymy (PM) among 20 Arabic-speaking, children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and 20 Typically Developing children (TD) using a picture-matching task. The ASD children were recruited from an autism center, while the TD group was sampled from a kindergarten in Amman. T-tests were employed to determine if the differences between the performance of the two groups on the four types of meronymy are statistically significant. The results showed that TD children consistently outperformed ASD children in CM, MM, and SM, whereas both groups found PM relatively easier. The results reveal certain challenges in semantic processing for ASD children especially with: (1) recognizing and internalizing the organizational framework, which binds parts together in CM; (2) the concept of membership within a group in MM; and (3) abstract relationships where the connection between the entities is less concrete and organized in SM. Within the ASD group, statistically significant differences were found in favor of PM over MM and SM due to the simplicity and the concrete nature of PM, which required less cognitive abstraction in comparison to the other types. These findings suggest that assessments of semantic understanding in Arabic-speaking children with ASD should consider the specific challenges posed by different types of meronymy. Targeted interventions focusing on these specific meronymy types may improve communication skills and support the academic progress of children with ASD in Jordanian schools and therapy settings.