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Different Ways of Making a Point: A Study of Gestural Communication in Typical and Atypical Early Development
Author(s) -
RamosCabo Sara,
Vulchanov Valentin,
Vulchanova Mila
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
autism research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.656
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1939-3806
pISSN - 1939-3792
DOI - 10.1002/aur.2438
Subject(s) - autism , gesture , referent , psychology , joint attention , deixis , nonverbal communication , developmental psychology , eye contact , language development , cognitive psychology , linguistics , philosophy
Deictic pointing is among the most impaired gestures in children with autism. Research on typical development demonstrates that contact with the referent and handshape when pointing , are associated with different communicative intentions and developmental stages. Despite their importance, the morphological features of pointing remain largely unexplored in autism. The aim of the present study was to map out pointing production in autism with a focus on handshape and contact with the referent . Participants (age range = 1–6 years old) with ASD ( n = 16), at high risk for autism ( n = 13) and typically developing children ( n = 18) interacted with their caregivers in a gesture elicitation task. Results showed that children with ASD produced fewer pointing gestures overall and fewer index finger pointing without contact with the referent compared to the typically developing children. Lay Summary Children with autism produce less gestures than typical children, and pointing gestures appear to be more affected than other gesture types. Whether children point using their index finger or the palm, and whether they touch or not the referent is crucial for understanding communicative intentions. This is the first study to document experimentally exactly how pointing gestures differ in autism in comparison to typical development. We found important qualitative differences in the communicative patterns of children with autism and at risk for autism, that may serve to identify potential new markers for early diagnosis. Autism Res 2021, 14: 984–996 . © 2020 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.