Language and social-communicative behaviours in children with autism and children with language delay : a preliminary comparison

Abstract

There are no local studies which compare the language and social-communicative (SC) skills of children with a primary Language Delay (LD) to those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The purpose of this research study is precisely that - to evaluate, describe and compare the receptive/expressive language and SC skills of such children. This study also aims to compare the skills observed in children with LD and those with ASD to those of Typically-Developing (TD) children. To this effect, 9 children aged 36 to 48 months were selected to participate in this study. This sample consisted of 3 TD children, 3 presenting with LD and another 3 with ASD. The methods utilised in this study consisted of informal assessments, direct observation and parental reports. Following a quantitative and qualitative data analysis, scores were compared and contrasted in order to bring out the similarities and differences between the three groups in terms of receptive/expressive language and SC skills. Additional, related information was also gathered in order to provide a comprehensive profile of the language and SC skills of each participant. Findings indicate that children with LD display dominant receptive language skills, while those with ASD present with varied receptive/expressive profiles. Furthermore, both clinical groups show limited abilities in identifying attributes, locations and in following instructions at the 3ICW. The expressive language skills of both groups are also limited, as evident in tasks such as naming objects/persons, actions, attributes, locations and in producing SVO constructions and short narratives. Moreover, both clinical groups present with social-communicative deficits, specifically in conversation skills. Finally, results also portray various differences between the language and SC skills observed for each participant.