Abstract
Thirty children with autism were observed during their everyday school activities in order to examine patterns of spontaneous communication. The forms, functions, and targets of their communication were recorded by trained observers. The prototypical communicative event consisted of a child directing a motoric form of communication toward the teacher to request something or to attract attention to himself or herself. However, communication patterns were found to vary as a function of the child's cognitive level and severity of autism. Deficits in joint attention functions were observed, and were most striking in the subgroup of children who did not use speech. Results are discussed with reference to Wetherby's (1986) model for the development of communicative functions in autistic children.
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The preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by the Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resources System (through a state general revenue appropriation for evaluation services in exceptional student education) and in part by NICHD grant # HD15052. The authors thank Eleanor Levine and Estelle Wild for their support of this project; Jennifer Rosenbaum, Pamela Fishel, and John Cosculluela for their invaluable assistance; and the participating classroom teachers for their time and cooperation.
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Stone, W.L., Caro-Martinez, L.M. Naturalistic observations of spontaneous communication in autistic children. J Autism Dev Disord 20, 437–453 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02216051
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02216051