Gesture Comprehension and Language in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (P4.203)

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine gesture-language integration and gesture comprehension in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Background: The ability to manipulate and use tools is a cognitive-motor milestone that leads to independence in daily activities. These praxis networks typically develop in toddlers as spoken language emerges. Gesture production is impaired, but gesture comprehension has not been examined in young ASD children. Design/Methods: Preschool and kindergarten aged children (ASD=22; Controls=14, 4–6 years) were administered standardized language tests and gesture interpretation tasks. In the gesture-language integration task participants were shown a toy and had to match a presented gesture to a toy action in order to understand a made-up verb. In the gesture comprehension task, the subject had to choose a picture after viewing the examiner perform a gesture. Results: ASD children had lower gesture integration scores than controls (F 1,34 =10.87, p=.002). Eight ASD children (36%) performed at or below chance on the gesture condition relative to controls (0) (χ 2 =6.55, p=.011). Children performing above chance had higher language scores (F 2,19 =4.45, p=.026; Receptive: p=.009; Expressive: p=.007) than those who performed at or below chance. In ASD, gesture-language integration correlated with gesture comprehension (r=.553, p=.009) and language scores (Receptive: r=.672, p=.001; Expressive: r=.684, p Conclusions: Our results showed that young children with ASD have difficulty with gesture interpretation. It is unclear whether semantic knowledge of tools-gestures may explain some of these performance differences. Nevertheless, gesture integration and comprehension was associated with language skill, supporting the tenant that praxis and language networks are functionally linked. A broken praxis network may contribute to challenges with language learning and interventions targeting gesture comprehension and not just production may enhance language abilities in ASD. Study Supported by: Louisiana Board of Regents Disclosure: Dr. Knaus has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kamps has nothing to disclose. Dr. Foundas has nothing to disclose.