Original Research Article
Year: 2020 | Month: August | Volume: 10 | Issue: 8 | Pages: 244-250
Pragmatic Skills during Mother-Child Interaction in Children with Autism
Shilpashri H. N1, Shyamala K.C2
1Lecturer, JSS Institute of Speech and Hearing, M.G.Road, Mysore 570004, Karnataka India,
2Professor in Language Pathology (retired), All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Manasagangothri Mysore – 570 006, Karnataka State, India.
Corresponding Author: Shilpashri H. N
ABSTRACT
Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) show delay in the onset of their language development and frequently demonstrate impairments of various subcomponents of language. The use of language (pragmatics) as a social condition refers to the use of social context and to the identification of the speaker’s intentions, desires and communication strategies. From a pragmatic view, wh-questions typically ask for information which is desired, but not known, by the speaker. This paper aims to study pragmatic skills; Questioning, Answering questions, and Adding information to the topic, in typically developing Kannada speaking children and children with Autism with Language age (comprehension and expression) of 2-4 years respectively. Participants were divided into two groups; group A- typically developing children and group B: children with Autism. The current study utilized a mother-child semi instructed play task to study the pragmatic skills. One hour audio-video sample of mother-child interaction was recorded. The data was analysed for frequency of pragmatic skills used during the course of interaction with his/her communicative partner (i.e., mother). The study findings showed that the frequency of use of pragmatic skills studies were significantly less in children with ASD in comparison with Language age matched typically developing children.
Key words: Pragmatic skills, Kannada speaking typically developing children, children with Autism, mother-child interaction