Pragmatic contributions to early vocabulary and social communication in young autistic children with language and cognitive delays

Task-related differences in the gesture production of young autistic children

BACKGROUND

In typically developing (TD) children, gesture emerges around 9 months of age, allowing children to communicate prior to speech. Due to the important role gesture plays in the early communication of autistic and TD children, various tasks have been used to assess gesture ability. However, few data exist on whether and how tasks differentially elicit gesture, particularly for samples of racially and ethnically diverse autistic children.

AIMS

In this study, we explored if task (a naturalistic parent-child interaction [NPCI]; structured assessment of child communication) differentially elicited rate or type of gesture production for young autistic children.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

This secondary analysis included baseline data from 80 racially and ethnically diverse autistic children aged 18-59 months who participated in one of two larger studies. Video recordings of NPCIs and an assessment of child communication with standardised administration procedures were collected at baseline. Child gesture rate (number of gestures produced per 10 min) and type were extracted from these recordings and analysed.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

The structured assessment elicited more gestures than the NPCI. In terms of gesture type, points, gives, and reaches accounted for 76% of child gestures. Points (which are developmentally more advanced than reaches and gives) were produced at the highest rates within book exploration. Distal points (which are more developmentally advanced than proximal or contact points) were produced at the highest rates when children were tempted to request.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Our findings indicate elicitation tasks differentially elicit type and rate of gesture for young autistic children. To assess the gesture production of young autistic children, a structured task designed to elicit child requests will probe the developmental sophistication of the child's gesture repertoire, eliciting both the most gestures and the most developmentally advanced gestures.

WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS

What is already known on the subject Because of the importance of gesture in early communication for autistic and typically developing children, various tasks have been used to assess it. However, little is known about whether tasks differentially elicit type or rate of gesture for young autistic children from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. What this paper adds to existing knowledge Elicitation tasks differentially elicit type and rate of gesture for young autistic children in the early stages of gesture. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? We recommend a structured task designed to elicit child requests to assess the developmental sophistication of a child's gesture repertoire.

Adding to the Conversation: Language Delays and Parent-Child Interactions in the Younger Siblings of Children With Autism

In their first three years, children begin to maintain topics and add new information in conversation. In turn, caregivers create opportunities for language learning. Compared to children with no family history of autism (typical likelihood, TL), the younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at elevated likelihood (EL) for both ASD and language delays. This study asked: (1) Do profiles of spoken language and conversational skills differ across groups? (2) Does spoken language relate to conversational skills? and (3) How does parent speech relate to child spoken language and conversational skills? Child spoken language, conversational skills, and parent speech were examined during toy play at home with three-year-old TL (n = 16) and EL children with ASD (EL-ASD, n = 10), non-ASD language delay (EL-LD, n = 21), and no delays or diagnoses (EL-ND, n = 37). EL-ASD children produced fewer intelligible utterances, and EL-LD and EL-ASD children produced shorter utterances than TL and EL-ND children. When utterances were intelligible, all groups were highly contingent to the topic. EL-ASD children were less likely than all other groups to add new information, and adding new information was positively associated with utterance length. Parents of EL-ASD children had fewer opportunities to respond contingently. However, all parents were highly topic-contingent when child speech was intelligible, and parent speech complexity varied with child language and conversational skills. Findings highlight strengths in conversational skills for EL-ASD children during toy play with parents and show that children and caregivers together shape opportunities for developing language and conversation.

Examining Cultural and Linguistic Sensitivity of Pathways Early Autism Intervention with Hispanic Families

PURPOSE

This research aimed to evaluate evidence of Pathways parent-mediated early autism intervention as a culturally and linguistically sensitive intervention (CLSI) for Hispanic families with autistic children.

METHODS

We used Bernal et al.'s ecologically valid (EV) framework to evaluate current practice and Hispanic parents' perceptions of Pathways 1 ½ years after completing the intervention. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Nineteen parents were contacted, of which 11 completed a semi-structured interview about their experience with Pathways.

RESULTS

On average, the group that completed the interview was less educated, had more monolingual Spanish speakers, and rated their general experience with the intervention slightly more positively than those who did not agree to complete the interview. A review of Pathways's current practices through the lens of the EV framework suggested that Pathways was a CLSI for Hispanic participants in the domains of context, methods, language, and persons. Parental interviews echoed these strengths. However, Pathways did less well balancing evidence-based intervention strategies for autistic children with the heritage value of respeto.

CONCLUSION

Pathways demonstrated strengths regarding cultural and linguistic sensitivity for Hispanic families with young autistic children. Future work with our community stakeholder group will integrate heritage and majority culture perspectives to strengthen Pathways as a CLSI.

The cross-racial/ethnic gesture production of young autistic children and their parents

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Early gesture plays an important role in prelinguistic/emerging linguistic communication and may provide insight into a child's social communication skills before the emergence of spoken language. Social interactionist theories suggest children learn to gesture through daily interactions with their social environment (e.g., their parents). As such, it is important to understand how parents gesture within interactions with their children when studying child gesture. Parents of typically developing (TD) children exhibit cross-racial/ethnic differences in gesture rate. Correlations between parent and child gesture rates arise prior to the first birthday, although TD children at this developmental level do not yet consistently exhibit the same cross-racial/ethnic differences as their parents. While these relationships have been explored in TD children, less is known about the gesture production of young autistic children and their parents. Further, studies of autistic children have historically been conducted with predominantly White, English-speaking participants. As a result, there is little data regarding the gesture production of young autistic children and their parents from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. In the present study, we examined the gesture rates of racially/ethnically diverse autistic children and their parents. Specifically, we explored (1) cross-racial/ethnic differences in the gesture rate of parents of autistic children, (2) the correlation between parent and child gesture rates, and (3) cross-racial/ethnic differences in the gesture rates of autistic children.

METHODS

Participants were 77 racially/ethnically diverse cognitively and linguistically impaired autistic children (age 18 to 57 months) and a parent who participated in one of two larger intervention studies. Naturalistic parent-child and structured clinician-child interactions were video recorded at baseline. Parent and child gesture rate (number of gestures produced per 10 min) were extracted from these recordings.

RESULTS

(1) Parents exhibited cross-racial/ethnic differences in gesture rate such that Hispanic parents gestured more frequently than Black/African American parents, replicating previous findings in parents of TD children. Further, South Asian parents gestured more than Black/African American parents. (2) The gesture rate of autistic children was not correlated with parent gesture, a finding that differs from TD children of a similar developmental level. (3) Autistic children did not exhibit the same cross-racial/ethnic differences in gesture rate as their parents, a result consistent with findings from TD children.

CONCLUSIONS

Parents of autistic children-like parents of TD children-exhibit cross-racial/ethnic differences in gesture rate. However, parent and child gesture rates were not related in the present study. Thus, while parents of autistic children from different ethnic/racial backgrounds appear to be conveying differences in gestural communication to their children, these differences are not yet evident in child gesture.

IMPLICATIONS

Our findings enhance our understanding of the early gesture production of racially/ethnically diverse autistic children in the prelinguistic/emerging linguistic stage of development, as well as the role of parent gesture. More research is needed with developmentally more advanced autistic children, as these relationships may change with development.