Absence of delay in spontaneous use of gestures in spoken narratives among children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

BackgroundGestures are spontaneous hand movements produced when speaking. Despite gestures being of communicative significance, little is known about the gestural production in spoken narratives in six- to 12-year-old children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). AimsThe present study examined whether six- to 12-year-old children with ASD have a delay in gestural production in a spoken narrative task, in comparison to their typically-developing (TD) peers. Methods and proceduresSix- to-12-year-old children with ASD (N=14) and their age- and IQ-matched TD peers (N=12) narrated a story, which could elicit spontaneous speech and gestures. Their speech and gestures were then transcribed and coded. Outcomes and resultsBoth groups of children had comparable expressive language skills. Children with ASD produced a similar number of pointing and marker gestures to TD children and significantly more iconic gestures in their spoken narratives. While children with ASD produced more reinforcing gestures than their TD counterparts, both groups of children produced comparable numbers of disambiguating and supplementary gestures. ConclusionsOur findings indicate that children with ASD may be as capable as TD children in gestural production when they engage in spoken narratives, which gives them spontaneity in producing gestures.