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Li X, Peng Y, Lu Y, Zhang Y. The effect of recasting by mothers with different conversational styles on the communication behavior of autistic children: Lag sequential analysis. Autism Res 2024; 17:125-137. [PMID: 37964721 DOI: 10.1002/aur.3052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023]
Abstract
Recasting is the adult rephrasing of a child's immediately preceding utterance. It has been shown to have outstanding effects on promoting language development in autistic children. This study used lag sequential analysis to explore the impact of mothers' conversational styles on the communicative behavior of autistic children when using recasting. This study recruited 30 Chinese autistic children (aged 3-6 years) and their mothers. The utterances of the children and their mothers during 30-min interactions were transcribed, coded, and analyzed. The mothers' conversational styles were determined by the percentages of child-dominant, mother-dominant, and equality styles. The results indicated that mothers' conversational styles were predominantly child-dominant, differing from the expected mother-dominant style that is typical in Eastern cultures and traditions. However, some mothers still demonstrated a significant proportion of mother-dominant style in their conversation, while some exhibited a considerable amount of equality style. Moreover, mothers with a mainly child-dominant style and minimal use of mother-dominant and equality styles used recasting after the child's response, triggering the child to initiate new topics. Mothers with a child-dominant style combined with prominent mother-dominant features implemented untargeted self-recasting, the children did not respond significantly. Mothers with a child-dominant style combined with prominent equality features used recasting after the children responded, initiated, or expanded the conversation, which often facilitated the child's expansion of the conversation. These findings provide suggestions for designing parent-mediated early language interventions for autistic children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyan Li
- College of Education, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yonghan Peng
- College of Education, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yiting Lu
- College of Education, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yumin Zhang
- College of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
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Liu XL, Lee W, Rolfhus E, Hutchings T, Yao L, Xie J, Xu Y, Peng Y, Villiers JD. The development of a parent report instrument of early communication and language skills of infants and toddlers in mainland China. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2023; 58:1887-1902. [PMID: 37025041 DOI: 10.1111/1460-6984.12874] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study was designed to produce a new parent-report measure, the Diagnostic Receptive Expressive Assessment of Mandarin-Infant Toddler Assessment of Communication and Language (DREAM-IT) in order to provide norms for the developmental skills of children aged 0-36 months in four areas: expressive language, receptive language, cognitive play and social skills. METHODOLOGY The scale was designed to be both broader and deeper than existing instruments that neglect one or more of these significant domains involved in early language. Items were chosen by a group of specialists with clinical experience working with the age group and with attention to the developmental literature. Caregivers were tested individually by a trained person who asked the questions and provided examples. In addition to an extensive health questionnaire, caregivers answered questions in Mandarin about their child's behaviour using a scale of 'not yet', 'sometimes' or 'always' or listing out words and/or sounds understood or said by the child. The 476 participating caregivers were recruited at maternal and child healthcare clinics centred in Chengdu, China, 191 of whom were tested a second time seven months later. The children were sampled in three-month age-bands from 0 to 36 months. The sample was balanced for child gender by age band, and parental education was balanced. Caregivers of 0-24-month-old children and caregivers of 12-36 months were each asked a different set of questions, to determine the appropriate age range and cutoff points for each question, requiring the sample size to be doubled for children aged 12-24 months. RESULTS The results were subject to item-response theory analysis to remove outlying items, and the resulting internal reliability was high for each domain (average Cronbach's alpha=0.87). The final instrument (between 67 and 113 questions in total) was refined to include the least redundant questions that had the highest intercorrelations, with attention paid to coverage of all domains across the age range. Two scales were developed: one for children 0-18 months, the second for children aged 18-36 months. The longitudinal design permitted the creation of growth curves and norms for each domain for six-month intervals from 0 to 36 months. A small sample of 32 parents of children with Down syndrome aged 18-36 months provided validation that the scales are highly sensitive to developmental delay. CONCLUSION The instrument shows considerable promise for detecting early communication problems in children in China. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS What is already known on the subject In China, efforts were made in recent years to develop language assessments for infants and toddlers, but limitations existed with the domains included and number of items included per age group. Many clinical practitioners also continued to rely on language subtests of general developmental scales, which were limited in depth and breadth of language skills tested and were never intended for diagnosis of language delay. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This paper discusses the development of a valid caregiver report instrument for early communication and language skills of infants and toddlers in mainland China. The Diagnostic Receptive Expressive Assessment of Mandarin-Infant Toddler (DREAM-IT) includes foundational domains necessary for language and communication development in young children (receptive language, expressive language, cognitive play and social communication domains). The results show strong internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha) for each domain on a sample of 716 children sampled in three-month age bands from 0 to 36 months. The external validity proved strong when tested on a group of 32 young children with Down syndrome. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Besides helping to inform the diagnosis of language delays in infants and toddlers in China, the caregiver report instrument has special features to support clinical practitioners in a field that is just emerging in China. The unique support features include the automatic generation of a profile of relative strengths and weaknesses of the child on the report and the recommendation of child-specific caregiver coaching videos on a companion app.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueman Lucy Liu
- Hainan Boao Bethel International Medical Center, Boao, China
- University of Texas, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Wendy Lee
- Hainan Boao Bethel International Medical Center, Boao, China
| | - Eric Rolfhus
- Hainan Boao Bethel International Medical Center, Boao, China
| | | | - Liqun Yao
- Hainan Boao Bethel International Medical Center, Boao, China
| | - Jingqiu Xie
- Chengdu Qingyang District Maternal and Child Hospital, Chengdu, China
| | - Yaqing Xu
- Women's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
- Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yongmei Peng
- Shanghai Center for Women and Children's Health, Shanghai, China
| | - Jill de Villiers
- Hainan Boao Bethel International Medical Center, Boao, China
- Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA
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Fusaroli R, Weed E, Rocca R, Fein D, Naigles L. Caregiver linguistic alignment to autistic and typically developing children: A natural language processing approach illuminates the interactive components of language development. Cognition 2023; 236:105422. [PMID: 36871399 PMCID: PMC11223773 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2021] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Language development is a highly interactive activity. However, most research on linguistic environment has focused on the quantity and complexity of linguistic input to children, with current models showing that complexity facilitates language in both typically developing (TD) and autistic children. AIMS After reviewing existing work on caregiver engagement of children's utterances, we aim to operationalize such engagement with automated measures of linguistic alignment, thereby providing scalable tools to assess caregivers' active reuse of their children's language. By assessing the presence of alignment, its sensitivity to the child's individual differences and how well it predicts language development beyond current models across the two groups, we showcase the usefulness of the approach and provide initial empirical foundations for further conceptual and empirical investigations. METHODS We measure lexical, syntactic and semantic types of caregiver alignment in a longitudinal corpus involving 32 adult-autistic child and 35 adult-TD child dyads, with children between 2 and 5 years of age. We assess the extent to which caregivers repeat their children's words, syntax, and semantics, and whether these repetitions predict language development beyond more standard predictors. RESULTS Caregivers tend to re-use their child's language in a way that is related to the child's individual, primarily linguistic, differences. Caregivers' alignment provides unique information improving our ability to predict future language development in both typical and autistic children. CONCLUSIONS We provide evidence that language development also relies on interactive conversational processes, previously understudied. We share carefully detailed methods, and open-source scripts so as to systematically extend our approach to new contexts and languages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Fusaroli
- Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 2, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; Interacting Minds Center, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 4, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; Linguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania, 3600 Market St, Suite 810, Philadelphia, PA 19104-2653, USA.
| | - Ethan Weed
- Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 2, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; Interacting Minds Center, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 4, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Roberta Rocca
- Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 2, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; Interacting Minds Center, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 4, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Deborah Fein
- Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT 0629-1020, USA
| | - Letitia Naigles
- Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT 0629-1020, USA
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Mattie LJ, Fanta D. Joint engagement and early language abilities in young children with Down syndrome. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1152559. [PMID: 37207029 PMCID: PMC10191142 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1152559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Early social strengths likely serve as a foundation for language acquisition for young children with Down syndrome (DS). One way to characterize early social skills is to examine a child's engagement with a caregiver around an object of interest. The current study examines joint engagement in young children with DS and its relation to language abilities at two-time points in early development. Methods Participants were 16 young children with DS and their mothers. At two time points, mother-child free plays were completed and coded for joint engagement. Language abilities were measured at both time points using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales 3rd edition and the number of words understood and produced on the MacArthur-Bates Communication Development Inventory. Results Young children with DS spent more time in supported joint engagement than coordinated joint engagement at both time points. Using a weighted joint engagement variable, children with DS who had higher weighted joint engagement had lower expressive language raw scores on the Vineland when controlling for age at Time 1. At Time 2, children with DS who had higher weighted joint engagement had higher expressive and receptive language raw scores on the Vineland when controlling for age. Predictively, children with DS who had a higher weighted joint engagement at Time 1 had a lower number of words produced at Time 2 when controlling for age at Time 1. Discussion Our results suggest that young children with DS may compensate for their difficulties with language by using joint engagement. These results highlight the importance of teaching parents to be responsive during interactions with their child to move them into both supported and coordinated engagement, which in turn may foster language development.
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Design and Validation of the Non-Verbal Immediacy Scale (NVIS) for the Evaluation of Non-Verbal Language in University Professors. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19031159. [PMID: 35162184 PMCID: PMC8835025 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19031159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Revised: 01/15/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Knowledge and awareness of how to use non-verbal language is essential for the educational field. For this reason, the aim of this study was to develop a validation that validly and reliably measures the analysis of non-verbal language in university teachers. Content validation was carried out by applying the Delphi technique and through an exploratory and confirmatory analysis. The validity of understanding is given by the application of the scale to 1316 university teachers between 24 and 67 years of age. The initial data collected through the Delphi technique provided some modifications. The final scale, called Non-verbal immediacy, was composed of a total of 26 items that presented satisfactory adjustments in both comprehension and outcome validity. Confirmatory factor analysis determined three dimensions (kinesics, paralanguage, and proxemics). These factors will be a new element for future lines of research related to the teaching-learning process, as high relationships have been demonstrated between non-verbal language and psychosocial aspects implicit in teaching practice, as well as comprehension and student learning.
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Barton-Hulsey A, Lorang E, Renfus K, Sterling A. Maternal Input and Child Language Comprehension During Book Reading in Children With Down Syndrome. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY 2020; 29:1475-1488. [PMID: 32463706 PMCID: PMC7893527 DOI: 10.1044/2020_ajslp-19-00156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2019] [Revised: 10/17/2019] [Accepted: 02/13/2020] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Purpose Communication interactions between parents and children during shared book reading impact a child's development of both language and literacy skills. This study examined maternal language input and child expressive communication during a shared book reading activity in children with Down syndrome (DS) and children with typical development (TD). Additionally, children's receptive language was examined to understand the relationship between maternal language input and child receptive language ability. Method Participants included 22 children with DS and 22 children with TD between 22 and 63 months of age and their mothers. Each mother-child dyad participated in a 7-min naturalistic shared book reading activity. Results Compared to mothers of children with TD, mothers of children with DS used significantly more utterances with less grammatical complexity, but a similar range of vocabulary diversity. Mothers of children with DS used more questions, descriptions, gestures, and labels, whereas mothers of children with TD used nearly half of their utterances to read directly from books. Children with DS communicated at a similar frequency compared to their peers with TD; however, they produced significantly fewer spoken words. Conclusions This study reveals important differences between early shared book reading interactions and provides implications for future research targeting parent-coached intervention strategies that may enhance children's learning during shared book reading by providing access to expressive language and print instruction.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Emily Lorang
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin–Madison
| | - Kallie Renfus
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin–Madison
| | - Audra Sterling
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin–Madison
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Mason-Apps E, Stojanovik V, Houston-Price C, Seager E, Buckley S. Do Infants With Down Syndrome Show an Early Receptive Language Advantage? JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2020; 63:585-598. [PMID: 32091963 DOI: 10.1044/2019_jslhr-19-00157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Purpose The study explored longitudinally the course of vocabulary and general language development in a group of infants with Down syndrome (DS) compared to a group of typically developing (TD) infants matched on nonverbal mental ability (NVMA). Method We compared the vocabulary and general language trajectories of the two groups in two ways: (a) at three time points during a 12-month period and (b) at two time points when the groups had made equal progress in NVMA (a period of 6 months for the TD infants vs. 12 months for the infants with DS). Results The TD group had overtaken the DS group on all general language and vocabulary measures by the end of the 12-month period. However, expressive communication and expressive vocabulary were developing at the same rate and level in the two groups when examined over a period in which the two groups were matched in gains in NVMA. Furthermore, the infants with DS showed a receptive language advantage over the TD group; this group's auditory comprehension and receptive vocabulary scores were superior to those of the TD group at both time points when NVMA was accounted for. Conclusion The results shed light on the widely reported discrepancy between expressive and receptive language in individuals with DS. Although infants with DS appear to be developing language skills more slowly than chronological age TD peers, when NVMA is taken into account, infants with DS do not have expressive language delays, and they seem to show a receptive language advantage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Mason-Apps
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
| | - Vesna Stojanovik
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, United Kingdom
| | - Carmel Houston-Price
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, United Kingdom
| | - Emily Seager
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, United Kingdom
| | - Sue Buckley
- Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
- Down Syndrome Education International, Cumbria, United Kingdom
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Galeote M, Checa E, Soto P. Joint attention and vocabulary development in toddlers with Down syndrome and their peers with typical development: The role of maternal interactive style. JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2020; 84:105975. [PMID: 32088412 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2020.105975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2018] [Revised: 01/09/2020] [Accepted: 02/09/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Joint attention is considered a prerequisite for language development. Although language is one of the most impaired domains in Down syndrome (DS), few studies have examined the relationship between caregiver behavior during episodes of joint attention and vocabulary development in these children. Consequently, our primary aim was to analyze the behaviors of caregivers of children with DS and of children with typical development (TD) in the early stages of vocabulary development. A second objective was to examine the kind of words that caregivers use to refer to the object that is the focus of attention. We also consider the concurrent relationship between joint attention and vocabulary development in both groups of children. METHOD We studied 28 children with DS and 28 children with TD, individually matched on mental age and gender, and their respective caregivers. The mean mental age for children with DS and children with TD was around 12 months. The mean chronological age of caregivers of children with DS and children with TD was around 35 years. Each child and his or her caregiver were video-recorded during a free-play session involving different objects. RESULTS Although the total time engaged in joint attention was greater among caregivers of children with DS, caregivers of both groups of children were more likely to direct than follow their child's attentional focus. The caregivers of children with DS used a greater number of appropriate terms to refer to the object of attention. We found no significant correlation in either group of children between vocabulary development and joint attention behaviors. CONCLUSIONS The results may be due to the fact that the children studied are still very young in developmental terms and have yet to develop all the skills required for joint attention. At this early stage, directing the child's attention would promote the development of joint attention. A possible explanation for the lack of a correlation between vocabulary development and joint attention is that children may use an associative mechanism in the early stages of lexical learning, and hence the learning of new words is a slow process.
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Hahn LJ, Brady NC, Versaci T. Communicative Use of Triadic Eye Gaze in Children With Down Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Other Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY 2019; 28:1509-1522. [PMID: 31487475 PMCID: PMC7251597 DOI: 10.1044/2019_ajslp-18-0155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2018] [Revised: 11/27/2018] [Accepted: 06/09/2019] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Purpose This study examines differences in the communicative use of triadic eye gaze (TEG) during a communicative interaction in 2 neurodevelopmental disorders: Down syndrome (DS) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and a 3rd group of varying disabilities associated with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs). Also, the relationship between TEG use and language abilities was explored. Method Participants were 45 children, 15 in each group. The frequency of TEG was coded during a scripted communication assessment when children were between 3 and 6 years of age (37-73 months). Receptive and expressive language was measured using raw scores from the Mullen Scales of Early Learning concurrently between 3 and 6 years and again 2 years later when children were between 5 and 8 years (59-92 months). Results Descriptively, children with DS had a higher frequency of TEG than children with ASD and IDD, but significant differences were only observed between children with DS and ASD. More TEG at Time 1 in children with DS was associated with higher receptive language at Time 1 and higher expressive language at Time 2. For children with ASD, a trend for a positive association between TEG at Time 1 and language abilities at Time 2 was observed. No significant associations were observed for children with IDD. Conclusion Children with DS used TEG significantly more than children with ASD in this sample. Identifying strengths and weaknesses in TEG use is important because providing caregiver training to facilitate TEG can result in increased opportunities to respond with language models and promote language development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura J. Hahn
- Life Span Institute, The University of Kansas, Lawrence
- Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
| | | | - Theresa Versaci
- Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
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