Lai Philip To
Department of Communication Disorders, University of Nebraska Kearney, Kearney, Nebraska, USA.
Adv Autism. 2020 Dec 11;6(4):277-288. doi: 10.1108/aia-11-2019-0044.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the social and affective aspects of communication in school-age children with HFA and school-age children with WS using a micro-analytic approach. Social communication is important for success at home, school, work and in the community. Lacking the ability to effectively process and convey information can lead to deficits in social communication. Individuals with high functioning autism (HFA) and individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) often have significant impairments in social communication that impact their relationships with others. Currently, little is known about how school-age children use and integrate verbal and non-verbal behaviors in the context of a social interaction.
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A micro-analytic coding scheme was devised to reveal which channels children use to convey information. Language, eye gaze behaviors and facial expressions of the child were coded during this dyadic social interaction. These behaviors were coded throughout the entire interview, as well as when the child was the speaker and when the child was the listener.
Language results continue to pose problems for the HFA and WS groups compared to their typically developing (TD) peers. For non-verbal communicative behaviors, a qualitative difference in the use of eye gaze was found between the HFA and WS groups. For facial expression, the WS and TD groups produced more facial expressions than the HFA group.
RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: No differences were observed in the HFA group when playing different roles in a conversation, suggesting they are not as sensitive to the social rules of a conversation as their peers. Insights from this study add knowledge toward understanding social-communicative development in school-age children.
ORIGINALITY/VALUE: In this study, two non-verbal behaviors will be assessed in multiple contexts: the entire biographical interview, when the child is the speaker and when the child is the listener. These social and expressive measures give an indication of how expressive school-age children are and provide information on their attention, affective state and communication skills when conversing with an adult. Insights from this study will add knowledge toward understanding social-communicative development in school-age children.
本研究旨在采用微观分析方法，调查患有高功能自闭症（HFA）的学龄儿童和患有威廉姆斯综合征（WS）的学龄儿童在社交和情感方面的沟通情况。社交沟通对于在家庭、学校、工作和社区中取得成功至关重要。缺乏有效处理和传达信息的能力可能导致社交沟通方面的缺陷。患有高功能自闭症（HFA）的个体和患有威廉姆斯综合征（WS）的个体在社交沟通方面往往存在严重障碍，这会影响他们与他人的关系。目前，对于学龄儿童在社交互动背景下如何运用和整合言语及非言语行为知之甚少。
设计/方法/途径：设计了一种微观分析编码方案，以揭示儿童用于传达信息的渠道。在这种二元社交互动过程中，对儿童的语言、目光注视行为和面部表情进行编码。这些行为在整个访谈过程中，以及当儿童作为说话者和倾听者时都进行编码。
与发育正常（TD）的同龄人相比，HFA组和WS组在语言方面仍然存在问题。对于非言语交际行为，发现HFA组和WS组在目光注视的使用上存在质的差异。对于面部表情，WS组和TD组比HFA组产生更多的面部表情。
研究局限性/启示：在HFA组中，当在对话中扮演不同角色时未观察到差异，这表明他们对对话的社交规则不如同龄人敏感。本研究的见解为理解学龄儿童的社交沟通发展增添了知识。
原创性/价值：在本研究中，将在多种情境下评估两种非言语行为：整个传记访谈过程中、当儿童作为说话者时以及当儿童作为倾听者时。这些社交和表达性测量表明学龄儿童的表达能力如何，并提供他们在与成人交谈时的注意力、情感状态和沟通技巧方面的信息。本研究的见解将为理解学龄儿童的社交沟通发展增添知识。
