Abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reportedly have difficulty associating novel words to an object via the speaker’s
gaze. It has also been suggested that their performance is related to their gaze duration on the object and improves when
the object moves and becomes more salient. However, there is a possibility that they have only relied on the object’s movement
and have not referenced the speaker’s cue (i.e. gaze direction). The current study with children with ASD and typically developing
children aged 6–11 years demonstrated that adding another speaker’s cue (i.e. pointing) improves the performance of children
with ASD. This suggests that additional speaker’s cues may help referential word learning in children with ASD.
gaze. It has also been suggested that their performance is related to their gaze duration on the object and improves when
the object moves and becomes more salient. However, there is a possibility that they have only relied on the object’s movement
and have not referenced the speaker’s cue (i.e. gaze direction). The current study with children with ASD and typically developing
children aged 6–11 years demonstrated that adding another speaker’s cue (i.e. pointing) improves the performance of children
with ASD. This suggests that additional speaker’s cues may help referential word learning in children with ASD.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Brief Report
- Pages 1-6
- DOI 10.1007/s10803-012-1555-3
- Authors
- Hironori Akechi, Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Science, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8902 Japan
- Yukiko Kikuchi, Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Science, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8902 Japan
- Yoshikuni Tojo, Department of Education for Children with Disabilities, Ibaraki University, Ibaraki, Japan
- Hiroo Osanai, Musashino Higashi Center for Education and Research, Musashino Higashi Gakuen, Tokyo, Japan
- Toshikazu Hasegawa, Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Science, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8902 Japan
- Journal Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
- Online ISSN 1573-3432
- Print ISSN 0162-3257