ERIC Number: EJ924238
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Apr
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0162-3257
EISSN: N/A
Person-Centred (Deictic) Expressions and Autism
Hobson, R. Peter; Garcia-Perez, Rosa M.; Lee, Anthony
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, v40 n4 p403-415 Apr 2010
We employed semi-structured tests to determine whether children with autism produce and comprehend deictic (person-centred) expressions such as "this"/"tilde" "here"/"there" and "come"/"go", and whether they understand atypical non-verbal gestural deixis in the form of directed head-nods to indicate location. In Study 1, most participants spontaneously produced deictic terms, often in conjunction with pointing. Yet only among children with autism were there participants who referred to a location that was distal to themselves with the terms "this" or "here", or made atypical points with unusual precision, often lining-up with an eye. In Study 2, participants with autism were less accurate in responding to instructions involving contrastive deictic terms, and fewer responded accurately to indicative head nods.
Descriptors: Autism, Children, Nonverbal Communication, Verbal Communication, Comprehension, Comparative Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A