Identifying Patterns of Similarities and Differences between Gesture Production and Comprehension in Autism and Typical Development

Production and comprehension of gesture emerge early and are key to subsequent language development in typical development. Compared to typically developing (TD) children, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exhibit difficulties and/or differences in gesture production. However, we do not yet know if gesture production either shows similar patterns to gesture comprehension across different ages and learners, or alternatively, lags behind gesture comprehension, thus mimicking a pattern akin to speech comprehension and production. In this study, we focus on the gestures produced and comprehended by a group of young TD children and children with ASD—comparable in language ability—with the goal to identify whether gesture production and comprehension follow similar patterns between ages and between learners. We elicited production of gesture in a semi-structured parent–child play and comprehension of gesture in a structured experimenter-child play across two studies. We tested whether young TD children (ages 2–4) follow a similar trajectory in their production and comprehension of gesture (Study 1) across ages, and if so, whether this alignment remains similar for verbal children with ASD (Mage = 5 years), comparable to TD children in language ability (Study 2). Our results provided evidence for similarities between gesture production and comprehension across ages and across learners, suggesting that comprehension and production of gesture form a largely integrated system of communication.

A Longitudinal Study of Language Use During Early Mother–Child Interactions in Spanish-Speaking Families Experiencing Low Income

Purpose: This longitudinal study assessed continuity and stability of productive language (vocabulary and grammar) and discourse features (turn-taking; asking and responding to questions) during mother–child play. Method: Parent–child language use in 119 Spanish-speaking, Mexican immigrant mothers and their children at two ages ( M = 2.5 and 3.6 years) was evaluated from transcriptions of interactions. Results: Child productive language significantly increased over the year, whereas mothers showed commensurate increases in vocabulary diversity but very little change in grammatical complexity. Mother–child discourse was characterized by discontinuity: Mothers decreased their turn length and asked fewer questions while children increased on both measures. Rates of responding to questions remained high for both mothers and children even as children increased and mothers decreased over time. Mothers and children showed significant rank-order stability in productive language and measures of discourse. Mothers' rate of asking questions and children's responses to questions during the first interaction predicted children's receptive vocabulary a year later. Conclusions: As children become more sophisticated communicators, language input remains important, with discourse features growing in relevance. Children's early opportunities to respond to parents' questions in the context of play benefit their language skills. This work extends the evidence base from monolingual English-speaking families and is interpreted in the context of prior research on parenting practices in U.S. families of Mexican origin.

Collaboration Between Child Play Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology: Case Reports of a Novel Language and Behavior Intervention

Purpose It has been well documented that a significant number of children with developmental language disorders (DLDs) also exhibit challenging behaviors. In this study, a new intervention (Play and Language [PAL]) was developed through a research collaboration between a speech-language pathologist and a play therapist. The purpose of this clinical focus article is to describe child play therapy techniques and how these, along with early language intervention techniques, may positively impact preschool children's general communication and behavior. Method Students in a communication sciences and disorders program were trained to use a combination of child therapy techniques and language facilitation procedures in the PAL approach. Five preschool children, who displayed DLD and challenging behaviors, participated in a 2-week daily intensive intervention. Pre- and postintervention data for general communication and behavior skills were collected through parent report and language sample data. Student clinician and parent surveys were collected to assess the feasibility of conducting the new intervention and the parent-observed outcomes and satisfaction. Results A majority of the children who participated in the study increased their intelligibility and number of different words. Fewer than half increased their sentence length. These same children decreased their challenging behaviors, with 11 of 14 behaviors being reduced to normal levels. All parents reported satisfaction with their child's results. In addition, students trained to provide the intervention reported high levels of satisfaction with the training to implement PAL and that they were confident in providing the intervention techniques. Conclusion Together, our exploratory data provide preliminary and limited evidence that combining play therapy and language facilitation techniques may improve general communication skills and decrease challenging behaviors within the same intervention. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16840459

Child Play Specialist e Child Life Specialist: ruolo, evoluzione storica e benefici per il paziente pediatrico. Una rassegna della letteratura

Il gioco rappresenta un diritto fondamentale del bambino ed assume un ruolo cruciale du-rante l'esperienza dell'ospedalizzazione. Le figure del Child Play Specialist e del Child Life Specialist (riconosciute rispettivamente nel sistema sanitario del Regno Unito e degli Stati Uni-ti) forniscono programmi di gioco che normalizzino l'esperienza di ricovero del bambino e aiutino la familiarizzazione con il contesto medico. La presente rassegna persegue tre principali obiettivi: i. definire il ruolo dello specialista del gioco, la sua formazione, le tecniche implemen-tate, le aree di similitudine e differenza tra CPS e CLS; ii. esaminare l'evoluzione storica di questa professione; iii. indagare gli effetti dell'intervento dello specialista del gioco sulla salute bio-psico-sociale del paziente pediatrico. Di 613 fonti complessive (n=193 da Scopus, n=403 da Pubmed, n=17 da PsycInfo), 17 pubblicazioni sono state incluse, avendo applicato criteri inerenti lingua, tipologia di pubblicazione e pertinenza dei contenuti. Dalle fonti esaminate ri-sulta che: I. CLS e CPS presentano percorsi di training e tecniche simili. Emergono peculiarità di approccio diverse per CPS e CLS; II. Le esperienze pionieristiche di programmi di gioco in ospedale risalgono agli anni '20 con contributi significativi di Plank, Bergmann e Brooks; III. I principali effetti sulla salute infantile documentati sono il potenziamento del coping e la ridu-zione del ricorso a terapie farmacologiche per la gestione del dolore. Si evidenzia la necessità di un consenso internazionale sulla definizione del ruolo dello specialista del gioco, al fine di accrescere la ricerca empirica rispetto a tali professionisti della salute.