Literature Review on Gestural Intervention of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

Purpose: Children with autism spectrum disorders(ASD) exhibit significant deficits in comprehending and expressing the nonverbal behaviors, such as the gestures of others. Intervention using gestures can construct a framework for developing and maintaining the social interaction between these children and their communication partners. In this study, studies on gesture intervention for children with ASD have been reviewed in order to explore current issues and trends of the intervention. Method: A total of twenty-one studies have been selected and analyzed based on their intervention strategies, subjects, methods, and results. Results: Results indicated that intervention strategies such as ABA, RIT, and imitation teaching skills, generally used with naturalistic behavioral teaching methods. Most studies were conducted with ASD children at the prelinguistic stage using single subject research designs. Conclusion: One outcome of this research is that gestural intervention is effective for teaching the communication and social interaction with ASD children and their mothers. It would be fruitful if future research would focus on determining whether early gestural intervention produces generalized imitation of gestures and verbal behaviors.