Evaluation of pragmatic language patterns in autistic children
answer
The purpose of this study was to evaluate pragmatic language patterns in autistic children. This was done by observing the speech of children who were diagnosed with autism and comparing it to the speech of children who were not diagnosed with autism.
The authors looked at how often the autistic children used each of four different types of pragmatic language:
(1) social referencing, which is when a child uses another person to help them interpret a situation;
(2) backchannels, which are yeses or noes that are said during a conversation;
(3) nonverbal communication, like body language; and
(4) metacommunication, which is communication about communication.
They found that autistic children used all four types more often than non-autistic children did. They also found that the autistic children used social referencing more often than the non-autistic children did. This suggests that autistic children may have difficulty understanding what other people mean when they say things.
question
Evaluation of pragmatic language patterns in autistic children