Examination of the relationship between gestures and vocabulary in children with autism spectrum disorder at different language stages

Okcun-Akcamus M. C., Acarlar F., Kaysili B. K., Alak G.

EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND CARE, cilt.189, sa.5, ss.777-791, 2019 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 189 Sayı: 5
  • Basım Tarihi: 2019
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/03004430.2017.1344233
  • Dergi Adı: EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND CARE
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.777-791
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Autism spectrum disorders, deictic gestures, conventional gestures, pantomime gestures, vocabulary, language stage, JOINT ATTENTION, YOUNG-CHILDREN, COMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT, NONVERBAL-COMMUNICATION, TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT, CHILDHOOD AUTISM, RATING-SCALE, ACQUISITION, INFANTS, PREDICTORS
  • Atatürk Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

In this study, the relationship between vocabulary and gesture use is examined in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at different language stages. A total of 72 children with ASD between the ages of 3.0 and 8.2 years participated in the study. Gesture use was assessed by using observation-based procedures, while the number of different words (NDW) and the mean length of utterance (MLU) was derived from conversational language samples. Significant differences were found in all gesture kinds among different language stages, in children with ASD. It was found that declarative deictic gestures and conventional/pantomime gestures meaningfully predict the NDW, while imperative deictic gestures do not. According to the findings of this study, gestures show different developmental features at different stages of language development in children with ASD. The findings show that declarative deictic gestures and conventional/pantomime gestures may play a significant role in vocabulary development in children with ASD.