Social Communication and pragmatic skills of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Language Disorder

ABSTRACT Purpose to assess the pragmatic and social communicative abilities of children with Typical Language Development (TLD), Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD) and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Methods Participants were 40 parents and 29 teachers of 40 children ages between 3 and 6 years. Ten children had DLD, ten had ASD and 20 had typical development. All participants answered to the questionnaire of the “Assessment of Pragmatic Language and Social Communication – APLSC – parent and professional reports – beta research version. Data were submitted to statistical analysis. Results The assessment tool was useful in identifying the difference in performance of children with different social communicative profiles. Conclusion Children with ASD presented social and pragmatic impairments that were more significant than those presented by children with DLD. However, both children with ASD and with DLD presented more social pragmatic difficulties than children with TLD.

The Processes Underlying Positive Illusory Bias in ADHD: The Role of Executive Functions and Pragmatic Language Skills

Objective: Children with ADHD often show a positive illusory bias (PIB), reporting an extremely positive idea of their own competence, despite their difficulties. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are still poorly understood. In the present study, we examined social PIB and investigated the role of executive functions (EFs) and pragmatic language (PL). Method: Forty-one children with ADHD and 42 typically-developing children matched on age, IQ, and receptive language were administered measures of social competence, EFs and PL. The parents were also asked to estimate their child’s social competence. Results: There was evidence of social difficulties and PIB in children with ADHD. Only PL, not EFs, seemed to mediate the association between ADHD and PIB. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that PL abilities should be considered in efforts to improve self-perception in children with ADHD.

Discussion of Issues Related to Assessment of Signed or Spoken Language Development in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This chapter is a joint discussion of key items presented in Chapters 4.1 and 4.2 related to the assessment of deaf and hearing children on the autism spectrum . From these chapters it becomes apparent that a number of aspects associated with signed language assessment are relevant to spoken language assessment. For example, there are several precautions to bear in mind about language assessments obtained via an interpreter. Some of these precautions apply solely to D/HH children, while others are applicable to assessments with hearing children in multilingual contexts. Equally, there are some aspects of spoken language assessment that can be applied to signed language assessment. These include the importance of assessing pragmatic language skills, assessing multiple areas of language development, differentiating between ASD and other developmental disorders, and completing the language evaluation within a developmental framework. The authors conclude with suggestions for both spoken and signed language assessment.

Pragmática da Linguagem e Ensino da Compreensão Leitora: Revisão de Estudos

ResumoA proficiência na compreensão da leitura de textos não requer apenas o adequado desempenho do leitor nas competências fonológica, morfológica, sintática e semântica, mas também demanda competência pragmática – habilidade de, deliberadamente, articular a materialidade linguística da superfície textual ao próprio conhecimento de mundo – revelando que a interação autor-texto-leitor se concretiza no empenho do leitor em enlaçar o contexto de uso e as ideias expressas no texto aos seus objetivos de leitura. Assim, se a pragmática se constitui aspecto relevante para o bom desempenho na compreensão da leitura, questiona-se sobre qual espaço essa vem tendo nos estudos acadêmicos com finalidade de trabalhar tal compreensão. O artigo tem como objetivo apresentar um levantamento de estudos que abordam, na perspectiva da pragmática da linguagem, a compreensão leitora. Para isso, foram pesquisados estudos sobre o tema nas plataformas SciELO, PsycINFO e ERIC. Os resultados mostram que há uma carência de artigos que abordam contribuições da pragmática associada à compreensão leitora. Essa lacuna identificada nos estudos reflete a escassez de intervenções pedagógicas focalizando as habilidades (meta)pragmáticas. Assim, entendendo que algumas dificuldades apresentadas pelos estudantes na compreensão de textos estão relacionadas justamente à falta de um trabalho pedagógico focalizando a pragmática, sugere-se que investir no ensino explícito dessa competência pode contribuir para os avanços no desempenho dos estudantes em leitura. Palavras-chave: Compreensão da Leitura. Compreensão de Textos Escritos. Habilidades Pragmáticas. Desempenho em Leitura. AbstractProficiency in reading comprehension does not only require readers’ appropriate performance in phonological, morphological, syntax, and semantic competencies but also pragmatic competence – the skill of deliberately connect linguistic materiality of the textual surface with knowledge of the world itself – revealing that the author-text-reader interaction materializes in the reader’s commitment to link the context of use and the ideas expressed in the text to his/her reading objectives. Hence, if pragmatics is a relevant aspect for good reading comprehension, it is asked herein how it has been addressed in academic studies intended to promote reading comprehension. This objective of this paper is to present the studies addressing reading comprehension from the pragmatic language perspective. Hence, studies addressing the topic were searched in the SciELO, PsycINFO, and ERIC databases. The results show a lack of papers addressing the pragmatics contributions associated with reading comprehension. This gap identified in the study reflects a lack of teaching interventions focusing on (meta)pragmatic skills, suggesting that some of the students’ difficulties may be related to this lack of interventions. Teaching this competence can improve the students’ reading performance, and competent reading promotes social inclusion and a citizenship. Therefore, schools must train these competencies for individuals to interact with texts, process ideas, make connections with different types of knowledge, and (re)construct meaning(s). Keywords: Reading Comprehension. Written Comprehension Texts. Pragmatic Skills. Reading Performance

Predicting Quality of Life and Behavior and Emotion from Functional Auditory and Pragmatic Language Abilities in 9-Year-Old Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children

Children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) are likely to exhibit difficulties in development of psychosocial skills, pragmatic language skills, and use of hearing for social communication in real-world environments. Some evidence suggests that pragmatic language use affects peer-relationships and school engagement in these children. However, no studies have investigated the influence of functional auditory performance and use of language and speech in real-world environments on children’s behavior and emotion, and on their health-related quality of life. This study explored the relationship in DHH children at 9 years of age. Data from 144 participants of the Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment study were analyzed. Parent reports were obtained on quality of life, behavior and emotion, pragmatic language skills, and auditory functional performance of children in real life. Children’s spoken language abilities and speech intelligibility were assessed by research speech pathologists. On average, performance of children in all domains was within the range of typically developing peers. There were significant associations among functional auditory performance, use of speech and language skills, psychosocial skills, and quality of life. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that better auditory functional performance and pragmatic language skills, rather than structural language abilities, were associated with better psychosocial abilities and quality of life. The novel findings highlight the importance of targeted intervention for improving functional hearing skills and social communication abilities in DHH children, and emphasize the importance of collaborative approaches among medical, audiology, allied health, and educational professionals to identify those at risk so that timely referral and intervention can be implemented for improving psychosocial health and well-being in DHH children.

A Longitudinal Study of Parent-Child Interactions and Language Outcomes in Fragile X Syndrome and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Difficulties with pragmatic language (i.e., language in social contexts, such as conversational ability) are a noted characteristic of the language profiles of both fragile X syndrome (FXS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), conditions which show significant phenotypic overlap. Understanding the origins and developmental course of pragmatic language problems in FXS and other developmental conditions associated with language impairment is a critical step for the development of targeted interventions to promote communicative competence across the lifespan. This study examined pragmatic language in the context of parent-child interactions in school-age children with FXS (who did and did not meet ASD criteria on the ADOS; n = 85), idiopathic ASD (n = 32), Down syndrome (DS; n = 38), and typical development (TD; n = 39), and their parents. Parent-child communicative interactions were examined across multiple contexts, across groups, and in relationship to pragmatic language outcomes assessed 2 years later. Results showed both overlapping and divergent patterns across the FXS-ASD and idiopathic ASD child and parent groups, and also highlighted key differences in pragmatic profiles based on situational context, with more pragmatic language difficulties occurring for both ASD groups in less structured interactions. Differences in parental language styles during parent-child interactions were associated with child language outcomes, likely reflecting the complex interplay of discourse style inherent to a parent, with the inevitable influence of child characteristics on parent language as well. Together, findings help delineate the dynamic and multifactorial nature of impaired pragmatic skills among children with FXS and other neurodevelopmental disorders associated with language impairment, with potential implications for the development of targeted interventions for pragmatic communication skills.

Methods for monetary valuation of ecosystem services: A scoping review

Adequate assessment of ecosystem services is important for the development of policies and management plans related to forestry activities and the environment. Carefully identified ecosystem values can determine which options policy makers should prioritize to provide the greatest benefit. There are numerous methods used by researchers to evaluate ecosystem services. The most widely applied methods are monetary valuation methods, they are often deemed to be the most pragmatic language when it comes to communication with political and business institutions. The main goal of this review is to analyse available literature using the methodology particular to the scoping review approach in order to identify and describe valuation methods that can be applied for monetary assessment of ecosystem services. As a result of the scoping review, over 20 monetary valuation techniques (including several less common methods such as willingness to sell and Delphi method) were derived from 16 literature sources. In the process of compiling the range of different methods, a few flaws and gaps in the communication of methods were observed such as lack of consistency in the names of different methods and mixing up concepts. In addition, a few areas for future research are suggested.

Brief Report: The Broad Autism Phenotype in Swedish Parents of Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Conditions

The broad autism phenotype (BAP) is a set of characteristics often observed in typically developing people with a genetic load for autism, such as parents of autistic children. The Broad Autism Phenotypic Questionnaire (BAPQ) is a 36-item questionnaire developed to identify the BAP in first-degree relatives of autistic people. We translated the BAPQ into Swedish and examined its psychometric properties in a Swedish sample consisting of 45 parents of children with ASC and 74 parents of non-autistic children. We found support for the original 3-factor structure (aloof, pragmatic language and rigid), good internal consistency and convergent validity with the Autism Quotient. Thus, the Swedish BAPQ exhibits acceptable psychometric properties and may be useful for assessing the BAP in non-clinical populations.